Donor Pledges for Lebanon Far Exceed Targets

"An amount exceeding $940 million has been pledged," Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson told the conference, which brought around 60 governments and organizations to the Swedish capital on Thursday.

"The conference has thus met its objective with a wide margin," he said. Including previous contributions, the total aid pledged so far for Lebanon's acute needs totals 1.2 billion dollars, he added.

Swedish organizers had originally said they hoped to raise $500 million dollars (392 million euros).

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora had spelled out his country's plight to those in attendance, saying the Israeli bombing wiped out "15 years of postwar development" in a month of fighting with Hezbollah militants.

"Lebanon, which only seven weeks ago was full of hope and promise, has been torn to shreds by destruction, displacement, dispossession, desolation and death," Siniora told the conference, saying his country had suffered direct infrastructure damage and indirect damage due to loss of tourism amounting to billions of dollars.

US State Department aid Randall Tobias told the gathering that US President George W. Bush had pledged $230 million (180 million euros) in aid for Lebanon.

Germany has promised to contribute 22 million euros.

Hezbollah worries

Some western countries expressed worries that money going to Lebanon could end up in the hands of Hezbollah. There were concerns that cash handouts by Hezbollah to those whose homes had been damaged or destroyed could boost the militant group's popularity. Siniora played down any involvement of the militant group in the rebuilding process.

"All will be channeled through the government," Siniora said at the conference. "The idea that it will be siphoned one way or another to Hezbollah is a fallacy."

Israel began its bombing campaign in Lebanon after Hezbollah guerillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid. Nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, were killed.

Lebanon hopes to hold a bigger conference later this year to raise money for longer-term reconstruction.

Stockholm will play host to a smaller gathering on Friday to discuss humanitarian needs in the Palestinian territories.

Support crucial

The UN's deputy secretary, Mark Malloch Brown, had said international support would help the central government and warned that withholding support could have serious consequences.

"If we, the international community, fail in supporting Lebanon now, we fail not just the brave Lebanese people but also their national aspiration for a stable, strong and democratic government," he told the conference participants.

Among the priorities for short-term relief were thousands of prefabricated homes for a portion of the one million people displaced and the removal of unexploded bombs, including cluster bombs, which the UN's emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said could be waiting for people as they return to their homes and villages.

On Wednesday, Siniora said his government would pay $40,000 to each family made homeless to help them rebuild.