RIYADH, 24 October 2003 — Saudi Arabia is taking part in an international donor conference on Iraq which opened in Spain yesterday, informed sources said.
The sources told Arab News the Kingdom was attending the conference based on a conviction that the Iraqi people need help.
“The main reason the Saudi government is attending the conference is because of the prevailing situation in Iraq. The Kingdom is convinced that bridges should be built with the Iraqi people and at the same time it sees in such participation a step to achieve its national interests,” the sources added.
Arab News has learned that the Kingdom will help in the reconstruction of Iraq through a Saudi development fund not linked to the United Nations, whose purpose will be to help Saudi companies taking part in the reconstruction.
The fund would also contribute to financing trade with Iraq, a move that would benefit the Saudi economy.
The sources said the amount the Kingdom will contribute through the fund would be announced during the conference and would be confined to projects that Saudi companies will undertake in Iraq in the next three years.
