Ambassador-at-large in Middle East, Romanos Raad, called Sunday on all Lebanese, in particular, those affected by the catastrophic explosion in the port of Beirut, to "exercise caution, pay attention, and deal only with NGOs and institutions officially licensed by the authorities or those operating under the supervision of the army and official departments."

"Today we see many people impersonating NGOs, civil society organizations and others who take advantage of people's pain and grief in order to implement other special goals such as fraud and theft," he added.

Raad also stressed the need for all official and international bodies and civil society organizations to accelerate the provision of aid to the people of this stricken region before the onset of winter.