Siniora: Fund charges distort truth

Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora struck back at allegations by March 8 politicians that funds donated to the country’s reconstruction following the 2006 July war with Israel were used to pay debt service instead of reconstruction projects, describing the charges as distortions of the truth. “March 8 coalition officials including Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah and MP Michel Aoun have recently attempted to distort the truth about the funds contributed by friendly countries for the reconstruction of the country following the 2006 Israeli war to cast doubt on the work of the government at the time,” a statement from Siniora’s office said Wednesday. The statement detailed the types of donations received, by country. Siniora said a total of $1.5 billion had been distributed to different regions in Lebanon, including Beirut’s southern suburbs, affected by the July 2006 war. According to Siniora, donors contributed $1.1 billion for reconstruction and assistance for the families of the victims who suffered as a result of the Israeli aggression, which also severely damaged Lebanon’s infrastructure. “The total amount of funds that the government received from donors and companies stood at $1.1 billion, in addition to the funds allocated by the government to the Higher Relief Committee ($374 million), making the total amount $1.5 billion,” said Siniora. “All those funds were placed in the Higher Relief Committee’s account at the Central Bank,” he added. Free Patriotic Movement leader Aoun has alleged that Siniora’s government deposited the funds in several banks under different accounts. But Siniora said many donors had placed their own conditions on the Lebanese government. “No government that asks for funds can enforce its own conditions on the donors on how to spend the funds.” He said that some donors had decided to provide funds to the victims and infrastructure projects without going through the HRC. A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on June 07, 2012, on page 3. The Daily Star .