Aid pours in to south Lebanon, rebuilding begins

BEIRUT, Aug 17 (Reuters) Humanitarian relief poured into southern Lebanon today as aid agencies rushed to help the tens of thousands of people returning to rebuild villages torn apart by Israel's war with Hizbollah.

The groups said that since fighting ended today, the arrival of the Lebanese army in the south on Thursday and repairs to bombed bridges over the Litani River were helping them reach the torrent of returning refugees.

Workers searched for bodies in villages hammered by Israeli air and artillery strikes south of the Litani, about 20 km from the border with Israel, and used machinery to shift mountains of concrete and steel in shattered Shi'ite Muslim neighbourhoods in southern Beirut.

''We are not out of the woods yet, but we can say our operations are much less problematic now and we welcome the positive developments in the past few days,'' said Robin Lodge, spokesman for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP).

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had sent technicians to begin repairing water pipes knocked out by bombing in the south. It also sent six convoys with food and fuel to south and east Lebanon.

The WFP sent trucks carrying food, water, and tents south and was awaiting ships laden with hundreds of tonnes of aid from Italy and France, as well as two planes from Jordan.

The Lebanese government launched a campaign to warn people of thousands of unexploded munitions littering the area south of the Litani, which officials said have killed or wounded at least 18 people, including two children who died today.

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