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Egyptian aid plane for Syrian refugees lands in Beirut

Xinhua, April 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Egyptian military plane carrying the first of all three aid shipments for Syrian refugees in northeast Lebanon landed at Beirut's airport Tuesday, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

According to the NNA report, the shipment included tents, blankets, clothes, food, medicine and medical supplies and was met at the Beirut Rafic Hariri airport by Lenanon's Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas and Egypt's charge d'affaires to Lebanon.

The next two shipments are scheduled to arrive in Beirut on Wednesday and Thursday.

Derbas said that "the Egyptian ambassador decided that the Social Affairs Ministry in Lebanon would be responsible for distributing the aid, given its responsibility over the Syrian refugees file."

"The ministry and I are proud of this great sense of trust," he added.

For his part, Mohammad Badreddine Zayed, Egypt's charge d'affaires to Lebanon said "this step is a message in which Egypt emphasizes that despite its recent preoccupations, the country will return to its strong support to the Syrian people."

He added that the donations were to help lift "some of the burdens off the Lebanese state's shoulders."

Lebanon hosts more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Derbas announced last month that the country needs 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in aid over the next two years to handle the huge number of refugees without increasing the budget deficit. Endit