EGYPT: Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora says Palestinian Nahr-al-Bared refugee camp is being rebuilt

Record ID: 644945

  • Title: EGYPT: Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora says Palestinian Nahr-al-Bared refugee camp is being rebuilt
  • Date: 6th September 2007
  • Summary: (MER1) CAIRO, EGYPT (SEPTEMBER 6, 2007) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EGYPTIAN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE VARIOUS OF PHOTO OP OF EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK MEETING LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: International Relations,Social Services / Welfare
  • Reuters ID: LVAD14WA8Z7M60D6A2N4QUOFLMVL
  • Story Text: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said that the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp which was destroyed in fighting between militants and the Lebanese army is being rebuilt so its residents can return.
    Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said on Thursday (September 6) that the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp which was destroyed in fighting between militants and the Lebanese army is being rebuilt.
    Siniora made the comments while visiting Cairo, where he met with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.
    On Tuesday (September 4) Lebanon said its army killed at least 222 Islamist militants from an al Qaeda-linked group in a 15-week battle at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
    The army finally took control of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Sunday (September 2) after more than three months of fierce battles, including air, sea and land bombardment against the entrenched Fatah al-Islam militants.
    At least 42 civilians and 163 soldiers were killed, bringing the death toll to 427 -- Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
    "The measures taken by the heroic Lebanese army and the great sacrifices it offered to safeguard Lebanon's unity, sovereignty and stability.
    The heroic stance of the army leadership and the courage of its officers and soldiers led to the final settlement of the battle. I explained all these matters to the President, and also the Lebanese states' intention to rebuild the camp so that the residents will be able to return after it has been rebuilt, so that the Lebanese state will be the only authority in the camp," said Siniora.
    Siniora also called on Syria to do more in order to secure the Syrian-Lebanese border.
    "There are problems concerning the issue of the borders and we've always expressed the necessity for there to be real control along the borders and real participation by our Syrian brothers to secure these borders by all means. Because the continuation of this situation, where Lebanon is always prone to infiltration of goods and arms and individuals, illegally, and the presence of military camps on the Lebanon-Syria border and inside the Lebanese borders, is something that does not contribute to the building of these relations," said Siniora.
    Also on Thursday, Siniora said he hoped the Lebanese parliament would choose a president capable of unifying the country when it convenes on September 25.
    "We hope that, with this presidential election, that we will exercise every effort so that it will take place, and that we will have a new president capable of working with the new government in Lebanon to set a path towards the resumption of development and the assertion of stability, and the continuation by Lebanon of its Arab position, but also of independence and sovereignty," he said.
    The pro-Syrian Lebanese opposition, lead by Hezbollah, has called for the U.S.-backed Siniora government to choose a presidential candidate acceptable to all of Lebanon's deeply fractured political community.
    The opposition says it will boycott the vote for President if a consensus candidate is not agreed upon to replace President Emile Lahoud, whose termon November 23, a move that could further destabilise the country.
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