As Western and Arab countries gave pledges for the reconstruction of a destroyed Palestinian refugee camp at a Vienna conference Monday, leaders at the meeting stressed the need for a solution to the Palestinian issue, according to dpa. The mostly Western countries pledged around 120 million dollars for the rebuilding of the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon that was largely destroyed in 2007, when Lebanese government units fought extremists of the Fatah al-Islam group. The reconstruction itself will cost around 250 million dollars, but the total will amount to 435 million dollars, as areas adjacent areas will also be rebuilt. The reconstruction effort was a step towards resolving the Palestinian question, Amr Mussa, Secretary General of the Arab League, said. But he noted that "it would be reinforced if negotiations between Palestinians and the Israelis would be put on the right track." Until Palestinians were allowed to return to their homeland or until there were compensated, it would be the responsibility of the international community to help those refugees, he said. The incidents in Nahr al-Bared confirmed that resolving the issues of extremism and terrorism required "an urgent and just resolution to the Palestinian question," Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad said. He announced that the Palestinian Authority planned to raise 10 million dollars for the camp in a public fund-raising campaign. The European Union has pledged 45 million dollars, and the US promised 22 million dollars at today's conference. Around 33,000 Palestinians were evacuated from Nahr al-Bared before Lebanese forces started attacking Fatah al-Islam extremists controlling the camp early last summer. Currently, 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in 13 camps in Lebanon. "I can assure you that it is going to contribute considerably towards building better relations between the Palestinians and the Lebanese, until they can be assured to go back to their homeland," Lebanese Premier Seniora said about the new camp for 27,000 refugees. It will take about three years to build a new town, complete with schools, health facilities and UN infrastructure. The donor conference came one day before a major gathering on Palestinian security to be held in Berlin Tuesday. Foreign ministers from around 20 countries, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russia's Sergei Lavrov, will discuss how the Palestinian Authority can achieve security on its territory.
