JEDDAH: The Lebanese community in the Kingdom is mobilizing rapidly to run a donations campaign parallel to that of the telethon running on Saudi Television, Lebanese Consul General Ghassan Al-Mualim told The Saudi Gazette Wednesday.
The Lebanese campaign is being run in coordination with the Saudi Red Crescent, under the auspices of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.Mualim said the Crown Prince Sultan had assigned two military staff, along with teams from the Saudi Red Crescent to help send out the donations.
"The major problem we face is when we ship them by land, which is how to get them into Lebanon, since the trucks are being targeted by Israeli airplanes plus the fact that most of the bridges have been destroyed," he said.
"The best way is getting them through Beirut International Airport, which has been renamed Rafik Al-Hariri airport," the consul general said.
There are some 150,000 Lebanese nationals living and working in the Kingdom.
"Our campaign is Lebanese one. It is our duty as Lebanese to help our brothers and sisters and our government, which is in very bad shape," he said.
Lebanese companies operating in the Kingdom, along with the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as the Lebanese community have all pitched in, he added.
In Jeddah, he said, donations were being collected at Al-Harthy Exposition Center.
"As soon as we have completed the shipments, we will start sending them to Lebanon," he pledged.
"Lebanon is a devastated country, so any donation is highly appreciated by the Lebanese people and the Lebanese government," he said.
"For the Lebanese living abroad, these are our people and our parents, for the Saudi people they are their brothers," Mualim added.
Elsewhere in the Kingdom, the Lebanese Embassy in Riyadh is coordinating other donations, like the consulate in Jeddah, through business associations and chambers of commerce, along with leading members of the Lebanese community.
"We have very good team working on all issues, like logistics, warehousing and shipping into Lebanon," Mualimi said.
By Zahra Ali Asiri
The Saudi Gazette 2006
