Christoph
10-08-06, 15:16
While its fighters battle Israeli forces in the hills of southern Lebanon, Hezbollah's relief workers in the capital are fighting on a different front: in sweltering kitchens, on soccer fields and in makeshift clinics.
Known in the West mostly for suicide bombings and kidnappings, Hezbollah has emerged as the largest relief provider in war-ravaged Lebanon. Its efforts dwarf those of the government and international aid agencies, and they're cementing its role as Lebanon's leading social-welfare organization.
The militant group's vast social services wing is spending $500,000 U.S. a day to provide food, shelter, medicine and security in Beirut for 155,000 people displaced by the fighting with Israel, said Hezbollah officials, who provided refugee rosters and intricate spreadsheets to document their work.
Workers for other aid organizations warn that those figures could be exaggerated, but they don't dispute that the group's coffers are deep and its relief programs effective.
http://www.ngowatch.org/articles.php?id=404
Known in the West mostly for suicide bombings and kidnappings, Hezbollah has emerged as the largest relief provider in war-ravaged Lebanon. Its efforts dwarf those of the government and international aid agencies, and they're cementing its role as Lebanon's leading social-welfare organization.
The militant group's vast social services wing is spending $500,000 U.S. a day to provide food, shelter, medicine and security in Beirut for 155,000 people displaced by the fighting with Israel, said Hezbollah officials, who provided refugee rosters and intricate spreadsheets to document their work.
Workers for other aid organizations warn that those figures could be exaggerated, but they don't dispute that the group's coffers are deep and its relief programs effective.
http://www.ngowatch.org/articles.php?id=404