CAIRO, 15 August 2006 — Arab League foreign ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting on Sunday in Cairo to discuss ways to help Lebanon rebuild after the end of hostilities, the organization announced yesterday.
“The Arab League will put into place a global plan to help Lebanon, in consultation with donor countries, so as to begin reconstruction and allow the return of refugees,” spokesman Hisham Yussef told journalists.
Also on the agenda will be a push by Arab countries for a UN Security Council meeting in September on the Middle East and a possible Arab summit, said Yussef, head of the office of Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
Foreign ministers from the 22-member Arab League met in Beirut on Monday of last week and declared their full support for the Lebanese government.
Lebanon is now seeking an end to Israel’s air and sea blockade so it can reopen ports and an airport closed during the war.
Transport and Public Works Minister Mohammed Safadi told Reuters that Beirut international airport, whose runways were bombed by Israeli jets early in the 34-day war, would be ready to open within a week of a political decision.
“There are contacts taking place with all the major countries to secure transport activities for Lebanon by air and sea,” Safadi said in a telephone interview.
He did not say which countries the government had contacted.
