The Lebanese government said yesterday it would cost $382.5 million to rebuild a Palestinian refugee camp shattered by the summer's fighting between the army and Al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants, and appealed to the international community to help.
The UN relief agency, meanwhile, appealed for $55 million in emergency funding.
The appeal came at a donors' conference in Beirut that Lebanon called to seek international help to rebuild the Nahr el-Bared camp in the country's north, and allow over 30,000 of its residents to return.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora warned that failure to rebuild the camp could lead to more violence.
"If we fail to rebuild, it will not only be tragic, but the dangers will be limitless... the potential threat from violent extremism is against us all," he said. "We cannot risk chaos and violence" in any of Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps.
A government estimate said the $55 million was needed for emergency relief for the camp, and further $28.5 million for nearby Lebanese communities affected by the fighting. It also said $249 million would be needed to rebuild the camp and $50 million for reconstruction in surrounding Lebanese towns.
The battles broke out May 20 between militants of the Fatah Islam group holed up in Nahr el-Bared camp, just outside the port city of Tripoli, and Lebanese troops surrounding it. It was the worst internal violence since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.
Source: China Daily/agencies
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