Norway grants aid to Palestinian refugees from Lebanese camp
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Norway said Monday it was giving 10 million kroner (US$1.72 million; €1.26 million) in immediate aid to more than 30,000 Palestinians at the heavily damaged Nahr el-Bared camp in Lebanon.
Fighting between the Lebanese Army and the Fatah al-Islam insurgents holed up inside the camp since May 20 was the worst internal violence since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Thousands of refugees fled, and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said about 90 percent of the camp was destroyed.
"We have a responsibility to help the more than 30,000 refugees who have fled from the Nahr el-Bared camp. The refugees need more help now after the protracted fighting in the camp," Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said.
He said the aid was offered in response to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, together with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, appealing for support at a donors meeting on Monday.