UN and France organise aid meeting for devastated city
A donors’ videoconference organised by France and the UN to organise aid for Beirut will be held today, the French president’s office said.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington would take part and that “everyone wants to help”.
The blast on Tuesday at Beirut’s port killed more than 150 people and left parts of the city heavily damaged.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said yesterday he would seek to mobilise Arab efforts to provide support to Lebanon.
Speaking after a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, he said the Cairo-based league was prepared to assist an investigation. “We are ready to help with all our means,” he said.
Turkey was ready to help rebuild, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said during a visit to Lebanon yesterday.
Turkey’s port of Mersin, on the Mediterranean, was ready to assist, he said.
Beirut has received a stream of international assistance since Tuesday.
On Friday, relief flights from the UAE, Iran and Saudi Arabia landed in Lebanon, following others from France, Kuwait, Russia and Qatar.
International police agency Interpol said it would send a team of victim identification specialists.
The World Health Organisation, meanwhile, called for $15 million (Dh55.1m) to cover immediate medical needs.
Beirut hospitals, already strained by rising coronavirus cases and Lebanon’s economic crisis, were heavily damaged by the blast and overwhelmed by casualties.
Two days after the explosion, Lebanese citizens were flocking to a 20-tent Russian field hospital set up in the capital’s largest sports stadium.
The UN said up to 100,000 children were among the 300,000 people in the city made homeless, including many who were separated from their families.
With destruction from the blast engulfing half of the capital and estimated to cost more than $3 billion, world leaders, advocacy groups and Lebanese citizens have demanded an international investigation to ensure impartiality.
But Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement said on Friday that the country’s army should lead such a probe because it was “trusted” by all.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah also denied accusations the Shiite party had been storing weapons at the port.
The WHO called for $15 million (Dh55.1m) to cover immediate medical needs