"The reconstruction of Lebanon after last summer's war was meant to strengthen the U.S.-backed Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Hundreds of millions of dollars poured in from U.S.-friendly Persian Gulf countries. Instead, as government officials acknowledge, the rebuilding effort in badly damaged areas of southern Lebanon, south Beirut and the Bekaa Valley has mostly highlighted the government's weakness..."There is a feeling that the state is absent from the reconstruction process," said Ali Amine, who has been closely following the rebuilding efforts in the south as an editor for Al Balad, a daily newspaper. "The government has shown no real interest in what happens in the south.""