EU pledges 42 million euros for Lebanon

BRUSSELS, Aug 30 (Reuters) The European Commission pledged an initial 42 million euros (53.9 million dollars) to help kickstart post-war reconstruction in Lebanon, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said today.

The cash will be offered at a donors' conference in Stockholm tomorrow which Lebanon hopes will raise a total 500 million dollars for short-term recovery work like clearing unexploded cluster bombs, rebuilding shattered homes and restoring roads.

''We are 100 percent committed to helping Lebanon in its physical rehabilitation,'' Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.

''But a successful long-term recovery will also require political and economic reforms,'' she said.

The EU executive said the new money would bring to over 100 million euros the total aid it has offered Lebanon since the conflict began, including humanitarian assistance.

Lebanese government officials have estimated that five weeks of Israeli air strikes targeting Hizbollah guerrillas caused some 3.6 billion dollars in damage to the country's infrastructure.

Sixty governments and organisations are due to attend the Stockholm conference, including Deputy U N Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown. Lebanon hopes to have a further, larger donor conference at a later date in Beirut.

REUTERS KR HT1700