Intervention of the Representative of the United Kingdom

Chargé d’Affaires - Mr. Adrian Bedford

Donors' Meeting for South Lebanon Beirut, July 27th 2000

Mr. Prime Minister,

Ministers,

Distinguished delegates,

I wish to echo the sentiments of earlier speakers about the merits of this conference. The hard work and meticulous preparation that has gone into planning this event and the careful and thoughtful preparation of project plans is most welcome. Yesterday’s trip to the South Lebanon was also of great value. I’m sure we all now have a much better understanding of the needs of the South.

We in the U.K. will study the project proposals to see if and how we can best assist Lebanon, either bilaterally or multilaterally. Like Germany, most of the U.Ks assistance is channeled via multi-lateral routes, such as the E.C. or the U.N., or via N.G.Os, and this is likely to continue. Since the liberation of the South, the U.K. has donated almost US$ 1 million to two U.N. agencies that specialize in raising mines awareness and mines clearance, namely UNICEF and UNMAS.

I wish to endorse the comments of the Ambassador of the Netherlands. Lebanon must re-establish full and effective authority over all of South Lebanon. I also support the words earlier today of U.N. special representative Larson. We in the U.K. look forward to the early deployment of UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces. We also, look forward to UNIFIL fulfilling its responsibility to assist the Lebanese authorities in recruiting full and effective control in South Lebanon.