MADRID, 24 October 2003 — US officials said yesterday they were confident donor nations gathering for a two-day conference on Iraq would heed a call from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to give billions of dollars in much-needed reconstruction aid for the war-shattered country.
Annan called on donors to give generously, saying that the Iraqi people were emerging from a “tunnel of darkness” and were “looking to this conference for a signal that the international community is indeed ready to help them build a new Iraq.”
More money was the blunt request from Iraqi representatives at the conference as the war-ravaged country looks for ways to plug needs which World Bank and UN economists put at $36 billion for the coming four years, to which the interim US-led authority adds a further 20 billion.
“The Iraqi people need finance, not promises,” said Iraqi governing council representative Mowaffak al-Rubaie.
“We need a direct, immediate infusion of cash ... to kickstart a push to get back on the road and get the economy back on its feet.”
The United States have pledged $19.4 billion dollar - but around half of that is set to be in the form of loans and linked to contracts for US firms, many of which are linked to the Iraqi oil sector, the second largest in the world after Saudi Arabia.
Japan has pledged a further $5 billion while Britain and Spain have thrown in some $1.2 billion between them and EU states some $800 million. US officials revealed more money was in the pipeline, and would be unveiled today during meetings at ministerial level. The pledges are, according to US officials speaking on condition of anonymity, set to come in the form of an enlarged package from the European Union and also from the Arab world.
A Gulf official meanwhile told AFP on condition of anonymity that “Gulf Arab states will all make sizeable donations.”
US officials insisted they had assurances the aid call would be heeded and that countries who opposed the war were not also opposed to providing aid.
“We are feeling good. What we are hearing from countries frankly not at all supportive of the war (is that) this is something completely different. “We can’t allow for failure,” one official stressed, echoing Annan’s earlier appeal while forecasting a successful outcome to the conference.
“When you add up Europe’s contributions plus EC (European Commission) contributions it is going to be a lot higher than you expect,” the official said.
To date EU states have pledged some $850 million with Britain and Spain accounting for some two thirds of that total while France has sat on the sidelines and Germany has made only a token contribution to the package, both countries in the vanguard of opposition to the US strategy in Iraq.
Annan said that while the UN and European Union leaders wanted to see the swift establishment of a democratically-elected Iraqi government there was no time to lose on the aid front. “We all look forward to the earliest possible establishment of a sovereign Iraqi government but the start of the reconstruction cannot be delayed until that day,” Annan said.
The president of the Iraqi governing council, Ayad Allawi, offered a positive assessment of the early proceedings.
“The amount we have is very encouraging - this is an international commitment by the international community. Chris Patten, European Union external affairs commissioner, said Europe was ready to contribute generously even though, with the exception of Britain and Spain, its members were wary of providing aid until Iraq has a new government chosen by its people.
“We all know a number of European countries... however much they disliked Saddam Hussein, did not think this was a war we should have chosen to fight.
“Despite that, they all feel this is a peace we should try to secure,” Patten said.
World Bank economists believe that Iraq can only absorb some $6 billion a year but the figure is a source of some disagreement. “We take some issue with that,” another US delegation source said, adding that the conference was not about raising money to foot the entire reconstruction bill.
“Fifty five billion is not a target here. We collectively feel very optimistic. “Wait and see tomorrow. Don’t assume that because there hasn’t been a leak or an announcement ... that no money will be forthcoming.”
The officials added they believed Iraq could absorb some two-thirds of the overall US $19.4 billion package in the works as well as the money raised in Madrid.
As the first day of the conference got underway, British-based charity Christian Aid charged that $4 billion in Iraqi oil revenue and other funds earmarked for reconstruction had “disappeared” in bank accounts administered by the US-led coalition authority.
