About 60 governments and aid organizations were meeting in Stockholm yesterday hoping to raise $500 million to help Lebanon rebuild roads, bridges and homes left shattered by a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

In opening remarks, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said the direct damage of the conflict was in the ?billions of dollars? while the indirect cost including lost tourism and industry revenue would cost billions more.

?Moreover, Lebanon?s well-known achievements in 15 years of postwar development have been wiped out in a matter of days by Israel?s deadly military machine,? Saniora said.

He said reconstruction efforts would be ?severely undermined? if Israel doesn?t lift its sea, air and land blockade of Lebanon. Israel has said it would only allow free movement after the full implementation of the UN brokered cease-fire deal that halted the fighting.

In a report to the conference, the Lebanese government projected that early recovery efforts would cost about $540 million.

Conference host Jan Eliasson, Sweden?s foreign minister, dismissed suggestions that the aid money would trickle down to Hezbollah and strengthen the group?s position in southern Lebanon.

?I don?t accept that argument,? Eliasson told reporters before the meeting. ?This conference aims at strengthening the central government of Lebanon and in that government Hezbollah is only a minor part.?

<B>Fierce onslaught</B>

The fighting started July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the Lebanon-Israel border at Aita al-Shaab, killed three Israeli soldiers and seized two others.

The attack provoked a fierce onslaught from Israel, which pounded Hezbollah strongholds as well as Lebanon?s roads, bridges and other key infrastructure, including the international airport in Beirut. Large sections of southern Lebanon and whole neighborhoods south of Beirut were left in ruins. An estimated 1 million people fled their homes.

The Lebanese government, along with the United Nations Development Program, has identified an extensive list of early recovery efforts, including finding housing for displaced families, rebuilding infrastructure, improving social services and clearing unexploded ordnance.

The report estimates that up to 70 percent of Israeli bombs failed to explode initially. It said more than 50 people were killed by such munitions after a UN-brokered cease-fire took hold earlier this month and more than 4,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance had been destroyed.

<B>?You are not alone?</B>

Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson urged aid ministers to open their wallets for Lebanon and show their support to the Lebanese people. ?Our message ... should be clear and firm: You are not alone,? Persson said. ?War may be the business of some, but peace will always be our common duty.?

He also said he supported UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan?s call for an end to the Israeli blockade of Lebanon.

Aid money started to trickle in ahead of the conference in the Swedish capital, with the EU offering $54 million Wednesday for early reconstruction projects in Lebanon. Sweden promised $20 million on Tuesday, while the Italian government approved a $38 million aid package on Monday. Romania has pledged $640,000.

Organizers were also hoping for sizable contributions from Arab countries. Saudi Arabia plans to give $3 million through the World Food Program for food aid in addition to $2 million it has already pledged, a UN official said recently.