Dublin - An Irish aid worker in south Lebanon has called for international funding to assist the process of resettling displaced people in the area occupied by the Israeli Defence Forces until a fortnight ago, reports Jim Cusack.
Mr Sorley McCaughey, of the charity HMD Response, said: "If in two or three years' time the people of south Lebanon haven't been able to enjoy any tangible peace dividend, the situation will lend itself to a new civil conflict. Already there exist vast disparities in wealth between many of the villages in the region. Many of the Christian villages enjoy far better services than some of the Muslim villages. If these disparities are not addressed a lot of people could become disillusioned pretty quickly."
HMD Response is a joint-Irish British charity which has been in Lebanon since 1996. It has been implementing medical programmes and is partly sponsored by the Government.