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Lebanon Sees International Aid Pledges in Sweden

At an aid conference in Stockholm, Sweden, international donors pledged to give more than 1 billion dollars to help Lebanon rebuild in the wake of the recent war between the Lebanon-based, and Syrian-Iranian funded, terror group Hizballah. The amount is almost double the target of 500 million dollars that was expected to be given to the war ravaged nation.

While his government failed to uphold UN Resolutions that, had they been followed, might have prevented the recent war, Lebanon`s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said there would now be transparency as to where the funds would be distributed, allaying fears of embezzlement being directed to those who started the war in the first place - the terrorist groups that Beirut refuses to disarm, despite international demands to do so.

"We want to use all of the mechanisms that would comfort the donors, and would assure the Lebanese and the world community that this money is going to receive the ultimate use for the needy people of Lebanon," the Prime Minister of Lebanon promised. The Lebanese government said that the top priority would be to build at least 10,000 pre-fabricated homes for the almost one million people that were displaced during the 34-day war.