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Lebanon and the Middle East

That is why I welcome the UN tribunal. It is primarily intended to clear up the matter and provide evidence that will prove one way or another who was responsible, and whether they were sponsored by one or other states in the region. However, I am concerned by the assumptions that some countries’ major spokesmen have made in different forums. We must await the evidence before we accuse individuals or countries of guilt. I do not want to conclude without discussing our fact-finding mission to determine the impact of the conflict and what has been done to address it. The good news is that immediately after the conflict, the emergency relief operation was successful. Medicines, food, water and temporary accommodation were all delivered. When we were there, food was available at affordable prices, and the emergency relief operation was running relatively smoothly. However, more than $900 million was promised at the Stockholm conference, and it is critical for the image and the reality of the international community that several things happen in Lebanon. First, those pledges must be met. They were not met in 2000, and they must be met now; otherwise, we will be totally undermined. Secondly, I mentioned bomb clearances, and I am talking primarily about cluster bombs, although there are also land mines. Until we clear those cluster bombs, we will not really get the reconstruction process under way. Sadly, we found that the resources that had been promised for the south were not getting through. We were unable to find out exactly why that was; it is a source of great political controversy in the south, and accusations are regularly made. We understand the need for transparency and for the international community to be assured that money does not go into the pockets of local bigwigs, but that money needs to get through.