Brunei Aid For Lebanon

Kuala Lumpur - Brunei is ready to extend help to Lebanon which has been assailed by military bombardments by Israel, an act regarded by Asean as cruel, unjust and an invasion.

But the form of assistance to the country had yet to be decided, said Brunei's Foreign Affairs and Trade II Minister, Pehin Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng. "We are looking into that, and of course, it (assistance) can be in many forms," he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Asean 3 Foreign Ministers Meeting here.

He said his country shared the sentiments of other Islamic countries which had condemned the killing of innocent civilians.

"We welcome the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's proposal. We are considering giving aid on humanitarian grounds to Lebanon," he added.

Yesterday, Abdullah called on the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to convene a meeting on the Lebanon crisis, at least at the ministerial level. He said efforts were being made to seek the endorsement of OIC leaders on the meeting to compel the United Nations to declare a ceasefire to stop further aggression by Israel.

Malaysia also expressed its readiness to dispatch a peacekeeping team if requested by UN.

Meanwhile, Asean has called for a complete solution to the crisis besides a sustainable ceasefire proposed by the United States. The crisis which entered its 15th day today saw four UN observers killed in an Israeli bombardment. The observers were positioned at the south Lebanon border town of Khiam.

The latest casualties have pushed the death toll to 381. They include many women and children. An AFP report on Tuesday said Asean will cooperate to help evacuate tens of thousands of people trying to flee the fighting in southern Lebanon, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

"Where a member of Asean country is affected but does not have a mission, the other Asean countries with a mission will give assistance if needed," he said.

Some 30,000 Filipinos are employed as maids, labourers and health workers in Lebanon, and are among the biggest communities of foreigners there. About an equal number of Filipino workers are also employed in Israel.

Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon hailed the Asean_ plan.

In Rome, an emergency operation to deliver food assistance to over 300,000 Lebanese people, including 50,000 people who have fled across the borders to Syria, has been launched Tuesday, Bernama reported.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) news agency WAM reported that the United Nations' World Food Programme had announced here that twenty-five metric tonnes of high energy biscuits arrived in Beirut port from Brindisi, Italy, and will be distributed to affected people and those displaced, many of them children, due to the Israeli shelling that started on July 12.

The agency has started the three-month emergency operation on Lebanese territories, taking the lead on logistics for the overall US$130 million UN Flash Appeal. The success of relief efforts, WFP remarks, depends highly on the rapid deployment of logistic support - including trucking, warehousing and communications.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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