MACRON: AID FOR BEIRUT IS FOR THE LEBANESE PEOPLE
▶ World leaders pledge support worth millions in answer to call to help rebuild city as protesters rally against government
Donor countries yesterday pledged to muster “major resources” to help Lebanon deal with the aftermath of the deadly Beirut port blast, saying assistance will be “directly delivered to the Lebanese population”.
In a joint statement issued after a remote donor conference hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and the UN and attended by US President Donald Trump, they also offered support for an “impartial, credible and independent inquiry” into the August 4 disaster.
The donations came after Mr Macron urged world leaders to move quickly to provide vital aid directly to Beirutis as he opened the UN donor conference.
“We must act quickly and efficiently so that this aid goes directly to where it is needed,” Mr Macron said. “We must all work together to ensure that neither violence nor chaos prevails. It is the future of Lebanon that is at stake.”
The explosion that hit Beirut’s port devastated large parts of the Lebanese capital, claiming more than 150 lives and injuring 6,000 people.
Most Lebanese authorities say Tuesday’s explosion was triggered by a fire in a port warehouse, where a shipment of ammonium nitrate, a chemical that can be used as a fertiliser or as an explosive, had languished for years. World leaders, international organisations and an angry Lebanese public are pressing for an international investigation, but President Michel Aoun said that calls for such an investigation are a “waste of time”.
The aid call came as the Lebanese army said that hope was fading of finding more survivors from the catastrophic explosion, Al Jadeed TV channel reported. The health ministry on Saturday said 21 people were still missing.
More than 30 international leaders and government officials took part in the video conference co-organised by France and the UN to raise money, including Mr Trump, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Officials from China, and European and Gulf nations also attended. The UK pledged £20 million (Dh95.8m) to help feed people after grain silos were damaged in the blast and the country’s main import centre was destroyed.
Germany pledged €10m (Dh43.3m) for reconstruction, with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saying that “even after the worst of the rubble is removed there will remain a lot to do” because Lebanon’s other crises have not gone away.
Mr Trump yesterday called for an investigation, and expressed his support for protests demanding reform. “The president called for calm in Lebanon and acknowledged the legitimate calls of peaceful protesters for transparency, reform, and accountability,” the White House said. The US pledged $15m (Dh55m) in aid.
French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday opened a UN donor conference to raise funds to rebuild Beirut, urging world leaders to quickly provide emergency aid directly to the people of the devastated city.
Last Tuesday, 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate ignited in Beirut’s port, causing a blast that killed more than 150 people and injured 6,000.
The cost of the damage was estimated to be at least $10 billion (Dh36.73bn).
“We must act quickly and efficiently so that this aid goes directly to where it is needed,” Mr Macron said yesterday.
“We must all work together to ensure that neither violence nor chaos prevails. It is the future of Lebanon that is at stake.”
France announced it was sending a helicopter carrier and a cargo ship loaded with aid and supplies to Beirut.
The French Foreign Ministry said 18 tonnes of medical supplies, including medicine and hygiene kits, and 663 tonnes of food was being sent to the city.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun thanked the international community for its assistance and said it was beyond the capabilities of his country to cope with the disaster as well as tackling the coronavirus pandemic and an economic crisis.
More than 30 international leaders and government officials took part in the video conference co-organised by France and the UN, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and US President Donald Trump.
A French official said Iran and Israel would not take part in the conference.
The conference aimed to raise about $85 million for medical relief, with money also to be used to save crumbling buildings and rebuild damaged schools and hospitals.
At least 200,000 housing units were damaged by the blast, according to a report presented to the conference.
The UK pledged £20m (Dh95.9m) to help feed people after a grain silo was damaged in the explosion and Lebanon’s main import centre was destroyed.
The UK said the money would go to the World Food Programme to provide food and medicine for the most vulnerable in Beirut.
“The devastation we have seen in Lebanon has left people without homes, medical care and wondering how long it will be until the country’s food supplies run out,” British International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said.
“The world is coming together to stand by the Lebanese people, and as one of the biggest donors to this crisis so far, the UK is pledging more urgent support to help all those affected by this terrible disaster.”
The UK had already made £5m available, including support for the British Red Cross relief effort. Germany pledged €10m (Dh43.3m) for reconstruction and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that “even after the worst of the rubble is removed there will remain a lot to do” because of the other crises facing Lebanon.
No target was set for the donor conference but a French official said there would be “no blank cheque to the Lebanese government”.
Mr Macron and officials from the UK, Germany and the US said there would be appropriate oversight of aid to ensure reconstruction money was not lost to corruption or white elephant projects.
Much of the aid is being funnelled to international NGOs, the Red Cross and UN agencies.
Mr Trump said the US sent three aircraft carrying aid to Lebanon and suggested more supplies would be made available to the country.
A top US aid agency official said $15m in American assistance would not be given to the Lebanese government and would go directly to those who needed it most.
The agency’s acting administrator John Barsa said supplies would be sent to medical authorities at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University.
On a visit to Beirut last Thursday, Mr Macron told protesters that he would ensure any money raised would go into the right hands.
Mr Macron’s visit caused a feeling of relief on the streets of the city.
Despite gaining independence from the French mandate in 1943, the two nations remain close, with French widely spoken in Lebanon.