The pledged funds were committed by European and Western countries according to Ursula Plassnik, the Austrian Foreign Minister ( pictured with PM Siniora) .
Premier Fouad Siniora said at the beginning of the conference that the Arab nations have pledged to pay half the cost of the reconstruction
It is interesting to note that UNRWA estimated earlier this month that $450 million were needed to rebuild Nahr al-Bared and 15 nearby villages.
Arab and European officials met in Vienna Monday to raise funds for a the Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon which was destroyed last year during clashes between Islamist militants and the Lebanese army.
The donor conference was organized by the Austrian government, the Lebanese government, the World Bank and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA)
About 31,000 refugees have been relocated from the camp.
Anbout 1,900 families have already returned to the camp, while 2,400 others still live in the nearby Baddaoui camp, in Tripoli and the surrounding areas according to UNRWA
The fighting between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants , an al Qaeda inspired group broke out on May 20, 2007 and lasted for 106 days
More than 400 people - about 300 militants and 168 soldiers - were killed in the bloody clashes before the army crushed the rebel uprising and regained control of the camp on Sept. 2. The militants were disbanded and their leader Shaker al Absi fled to Syria , where he came from.
Invitations were sent to 78 government officials and organizations, Saniora's office repotted
Siniora told the Austrian daily Der Standard during a Sunday interview to be published Monday that Lebanon "always carried a disproportional share of the Palestinian refugees burden," in reference to the 400,000 Palestinians who live in 12 refugee camps in Lebanon.
"Israel still does not accept the Palestinians' rights, including their right to return. Just as it still does not accept the Arab peace initiative," he said.
"This conference is an opportunity to put this matter in the right context, to understand the extent of the problem," he added.
Aref El-Abed , spokesman for the premier said in as statement : The Lebanese government has two priorities: to address the refugees' humanitarian needs and to provide the resources for reconstruction.
"Improving their quality of life and ensuring their basic rights is closely dependent on the enforcement of law, order and security," he added.
"The Nahr al-Bared crisis has illustrated the danger of extremism and lawlessness as a source of overall instability for Lebanon, and the urgent need to exercise state authority over the entire Lebanese territory."
Confusion about the cost of rebuilding the camp
The Lebanese authorities estimated that it will take about $250 million to reconstruct the camp. If this is the case the amount pledged today is half what the Lebanese authorities have estimated and since the Arab countries will pay for the other half , there will be no more need for future donor conferences.
But UNRWA has estimated the cost will be 445 million, in such a case the pledged funds do not meet the UNRWA budget requirements and another donor conference may be required according to local observers
Tags: Fatah al-Islam, Lebanon, Nahr al-Bared, Palestinian Refugee Camps, Qaeda, source: NNA, Vienna
