JEDDAH, 6 August 2006 — The Lebanese consul general in Jeddah, Ghassan Al-Moallem, received yesterday on behalf of the Lebanese government the first of five ambulances donated by Saudi businessman Ali Al-Nagoor, president of the Al-Nagoor Group for International Investment.
“This is a very generous gift from the Saudi people. On behalf of the Lebanese people and government I thank them for their donations. We hope that we would not need to use these ambulances, but in these times we are in desperate need of them to ease the pain of our people reeling under the barbaric Israeli attacks,” said Al-Moallem.
“The Saudi people have stood by Lebanon. The economic institutions in the Kingdom and the Saudi businessmen have and continue to send their donations to the Lebanese people,” he added
He pointed out that Saudi Arabia had paid $50 million in emergency aid and then deposited $1 billion into the Lebanese Central Bank.
The Saudi public had also donated nearly SR120 million in the telethon not mentioning other donations that came from other sources in the Kingdom.
Crown Prince Sultan has assigned four military airplanes to the Saudi Red Crescent to deliver aid to Lebanon. The Saudi government has set up a field hospital in Beirut with more than 100 doctors and support staff.
Al-Nagoor said that this was the least that could be done for the people of Lebanon and mentioned that the Lebanese people have the right to live in peace without being attacked and murdered by the Israelis.
The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Thursday that as part of the Kingdom’s relief campaign for Lebanon, it has collected 450 tons of relief supplies. The campaign will continue for another week.
The JCCI announced on July 26 that the International Exhibition Center was ready to take donations and called on businessmen and residents to help in the aid campaign that was held in coordination with the Saudi Red Crescent and the Lebanese Consulate.
Saleh Al-Turki, from the JCCI, Samir Krediyya, a leader of the Lebanese community in the Kingdom, and senior businessmen inspected the items donated.
Al-Turki said that out of the 450 tons of donation collected “10 tons were shipped by air by the Saudi Red Crescent.”
He added that donations would continue to be shipped by air until the security situation eases adding that “only then can we start shipping aid by sea or land.”
Al-Turki called on the private sector to donate more medical products, diapers, powdered milk, tents, mattresses, blankets, cleaning products and soap for the benefit of thousands of people forced out of their homes and into refugee camps by continuous Israeli air strikes.
Krediyya said that the Kingdom’s efforts in aiding the people of Lebanon were the biggest in the world. “This is not something new for the Saudi people and government,” he said.
