The Arab world with all their oil wealth is the stingiest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/international/worldspecial4/04arab.html?ei=5006&en=5ee3e8783fb13da3&ex=1105419600&partner=ALTAVISTA1&pagewanted=print&position=We have to give them more; we are rich," Waleed al-Nusif, the editor in chief of Al Qabas, said in a telephone interview. "The price of oil doubled, so we have no excuse."
Kuwaiti cabinet raised its announced donation on Sunday to $10 million, from $2 million, having previously doubled it.
Kuwait is expected to run a budget surplus this year of roughly $10 billion, and Mr. Nusif noted that the government had just distributed an estimated $700 million to the Kuwaiti people themselves, the public share of the unanticipated revenue.
He said Kuwait should give a minimum of $100 million, not least because many of the country's 1.29 million foreigners of a total population of 2.25 million come from the devastated regions.
"They built Kuwait, and they raised our children," said Mr. Nusif, noting that before successive oil booms, India and other countries opened their doors to Kuwaitis, who were then relatively poor. The paper also advised Kuwaitis to check with their housemaids to see if they wanted to phone home in case family members were dead or missing.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia have each pledged $10 million, while Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, raised his country's cash contribution tenfold, to $20 million, on Monday night.
The Islamic Development Bank in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, said it would distribute $10 million
