Lebanon is given a £4bn breathing space

LEBANON obtained £3.9 billion in aid and loan pledges yesterday to help it recover from war and enable its Western-backed government to weather a growing threat from Hezbollah-led opponents.

But as the promises of aid poured in, there were fresh clashes on the streets of Beirut between pro- and anti-government supporters in which four people were killed and 100 injured.

Saudi Arabia headed the list of donors with a promise of 560 million of credits and grants, the United States pledged 390 million and the Arab Monetary Fund and World Bank each offered funding of around 355 million.

"I'm going away really pleased with the level of financial support offered today," Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, told reporters at the end of the meeting. "This conference is an expression of faith in the Lebanese nation and people."

Lebanon's efforts to rebuild after its 1975-90 civil war suffered a serious setback last year when Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas fought a 34-day war that shattered the country's fragile infrastructure.

The political situation has since deteriorated, with the Shiite Hezbollah opposition group spearheading increasingly tense protests aimed at ousting Siniora's Sunni-led government.

"The people of Lebanon deserve to live in peace. They deserve to make decisions about their political future free from the threat of violence and free from political intimidation," the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, told the conference.

Lebanon is weighed down by 20 billion of debt, equal to 180 per cent of gross domestic product, and yesterday's pledges should ease, but by no means resolve, its financial problems.

France said 365 million of the pledges were donations, while the rest came in the shape of low-interest loans, grants and development aid - much of it with strings attached.

Hezbollah has accused Mr Siniora of being in the pocket of the West, and government opponents have said the Paris conference was aimed at maintaining him in power.