HAITI: Arab aid making its way

Reuters AlertNet – HAITI: Arab aid making its way

I was watching Aljazeera Arabic and they noted that the Qatari aid plane had difficulty getting in a queue to land at the airport and that aid delivery was heavily dependent on security, so that it would get easier as US troops were deployed. Some critics who asked where the Arabs were in all this don’t seem to recognize the logistical problems. Qatari Emir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifah Al-Thani is on a goodwill tour in South America.

Lebanese and Palestinians have a long history of emigration to Haiti, where they have played a number of social and economic roles; some are in the 5th generation.

The Reuters-carried report says:

‘A Qatari C-17 aircraft, loaded with 50 tonnes of aid, left for the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on 14 January. Qatar also sent a 26-member rescue team comprising soldiers, police and medics to set up a field hospital and provide assistance wherever they can. . .

A Jordan Royal Air Force plane carrying the components for a military field hospital and six tonnes of food, relief items, medicine and clothing from the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation went to Haiti on 14 January. The field hospital includes five physicians specialised in orthopaedics, general surgery and anaesthesia, according to local media. . .

Lebanon will send a plane loaded with 25 tonnes of tents and three tonnes of medicines, vaccines and other medical supplies on 19 January.

Iran’s Red Crescent society dispatched by plane about 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid – including food, tents and medicine – on 16 January.’

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