LONDON, Nov 3 (KUNA) -- Two prominent Lebanese politicians here on Friday expressed Lebanon's appreciation for major political, humanitarian and material support provided by Kuwait to the Lebanese people in a bid to ease hardships caused by the Israeli aggression on their country.

Former Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that Lebanon's relations with Kuwait were historic and excellent, and even deepened at times of distresses and disasters.

Mikati made his remarks in his keynote speech during a conference organized by the Lebanese Society under the rubric "Postwar Future Vistas in Lebanon". It attracted British and Lebanese politicians and economists.

Lebanon was the first Arab country that condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and immediately called for restoring legitimacy to Kuwait and Iraqi troop pullback, he said.

Mikati acclaimed Gulf, especially Kuwaiti, support to Lebanon during the recent war, which has caused wide-scale devastation in the country and claimed the lives of over 1,200 civilians and injury of several thousands.

Lebanon boasts of being an Arab nation, and its close ties with other Arab countries, he said. Lebanon looks forward to more Arab political and material backup for postwar reconstruction for the time being and during an international conference for supporting Lebanon to be held in Paris next January.

For his part, former Lebanese minister of economy Yassin Jaber stressed the significance of Gulf, especially Kuwaiti, support to his country, saying that "Kuwait always supports Lebanon in sorrow and in joy."

Jaber, also a member of parliament, told KUNA that Lebanon would never forget Kuwait's help and aid for reconstruction since the end of Lebanon's civil war.

He, further, hailed other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, for their political, material and social support to Lebanon as well as reconstruction there.

As a member of parliament for Nabatia town in south Lebanon, Jaber said he would like to pat the Kuwait Red Crescent Society on the back for its humanitarian relief aid to the Lebanese victims of the Israeli war on Lebanon.

He recalled to memory that Kuwait established a number of hospitals in south Lebanon, including Nabatia Hospital, which receives a large number of sick people everyday, pointing to a Kuwaiti plan to expand the clinic and increase the number of emergency rooms and conduct complicated surgical operations like open-hear surgeries.

Jaber also pointed to historical friendly relations between Kuwait and Lebanon at both formal and informal levels.

For his part, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon David Shearer, who also attended the gathering, told KUNA that the UN strongly appreciated humanitarian relief aid provided by Kuwait and its Red Crescent Society (KRCS) to Lebanese people.

He expressed confidence that Kuwait and other GCC countries would provide immediate support and help to reconstruction in Lebanon. He hailed the KRCS for its role during the recent Lebanese-Israeli war as a "real hero".

He also appreciated the role played by Kuwait and other GCC nations in this respect as a "very important one".

The UN has sent around 80-90 million USD's worth of emergency humanitarian relief aid to Lebanon, Shearer said.

He believed that the reconstruction process in Lebanon would require 3-4 billion USD.

The UN official estimated that over 1,200 Lebanese people lost their lives and over 3,000 others were wounded in the recent armed conflict, let alone the devastation of infrastructure facilities as well as financial losses triggered by the collapse of the tourist season in Lebanon due to war.

By Hosni Emam