ARAB-AFFAIRS - Aug. 15 - Lebanese President Denies Getting Offer To Settle Refugees.

Lebanon's presidential palace denies a newspaper report in 'An Nahar' quoting Pres. Lahoud as saying that Beirut had received an international offer of US$20 bn to settle Palestinian refugees living on its territory. The newspaper quoted Lahoud as saying "international parties" had offered the money if Beirut would abandon a long-standing policy of denying settlement to 360,000 registered refugees and their descendants whose homes have been occupied or destroyed by Israel since 1948. No specific organisations were mentioned. 'An Nahar' quoted Lahoud as saying in an article entitled "an informal discussion with Pres. Lahoud", which led its Aug. 15 supplement: "This [US$20 bn] figure nears Lebanon's public debt, which is an important factor of the pressures that are being exerted on us". A spokesman at the palace says: "The president was misquoted. The report has no basis". 'An Nahar', insists on its report. Abdel Hadi Mahfouz, editor of the supplement, says Lahoud told him that Lebanon was offered US$20 bn but thought the conversation was off-record. Mahfouz says: "The president did not expect his remark about the US$20 bn to be published. But he said it and was adamant about refusing settlement". Local bankers have expressed hope that Lebanon would receive compensation for settling the refugees and pay down the debt, which is more than 140% of the country's gross domestic product. The US$21 bn public debt has mostly accumulated since 1992 to pay for post-civil war reconstruction, a massive bureaucracy, an army and security apparatus. The economic problem has become more acute with debt service alone exceeding government revenues in the first half of the year. Diplomats say outside compensation to rescue state finances was wishful thinking and that Beirut had to take decisions such as administrative reform to solve its debt problem.