Some €5.8 billion in loans and aid for Lebanon has been pledged by international donors at a conference in France today of which Ireland is to contribute €2 million.
Speaking at the International Conference on Lebanon, which is being chaired by French President Jacques Chirac in Paris, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Noel Treacy said the Government supported the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon.
He also expressed support for the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and stressed that the current political tensions in Lebanon can only be addressed through political dialogue.
Today's announcement brings to over €5 million the total package of Ireland's funding for humanitarian assistance, recovery and reconstruction, following the crisis of last summer.
International donors - including some 30 foreign ministers, representatives of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union -
pledged €5.8 billion in aid and loans for a reconstruction and economic reform programme for the war-scarred country.
The aid was toward the top end of what analysts had expected.
Ahead of today's conference, the United States and France pledged €711 million.
The conference comes as the US-backed government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is locked in confrontation with Iranian-backed Hizbullah and its allies, struggling under with massive debt and facing the task of rebuilding following last summer's 34-day conflict that left parts of southern Lebanon in ruins.
Mr Siniora told the conference Lebanon was "on the verge of a deep recession".
The United States and donor nations that back Mr Siniora say Lebanon must be defended from meddling by Iran and neighbouring Syria, which occupied the country for nearly 30 years until 2005.
This week's clashes in Lebanon between pro- and anti-government factions served a warning over how quickly events could go out of control if the confrontation between Mr Saniora's government and Hizbullah and its allies is not resolved. The violence killed three and injured more than 170 people on Tuesday.
The new UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, urged donors to "favourably and generously" support the plan.
But Mr Saniora's critics said donors would worsen Lebanon's debt and be pouring good money after bad. Lebanon has $40 billion of state debt, equivalent to about 185 per cent of its annual economic output.
Agencies