Iraqi official says limited German, French help won't be forgotten
U.S. soldier killed in northern Iraq
Friday, October 24, 2003
cnn.com
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A top Iraqi official attending an international conference on raising funds to rebuild Iraq warned Thursday that France and Germany's limited donations would not be forgotten.
Ayad Allawi, the current head of Iraq's U.S.-appointed governing council, said he hoped German and French officials would reconsider their decision not to boost their contributions beyond funds already pledged through the European Union.
"As far as Germany and France are concerned, really, this was a regrettable position they had," Allawi said. "I don't think the Iraqis are going to forget easily that in the hour of need, those countries wanted to neglect Iraq."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- also attending the conference -- urged the international community to give billions of dollars to rebuild the nation, saying reconstruction cannot wait until a sovereign Iraqi government is established.
"The people of Iraq have a hard road ahead of them, filled with both risk and opportunity," Annan said at the opening of the donors' conference for Iraq in Madrid, Spain. "Let us not leave them to travel that road alone." (Full story; Facts: Iraq's needs and donors)
Some countries have balked at funding programs in post-war Iraq, citing the go-it-alone approach taken by the United States and Britain ahead of the conflict.
Germany, France and Russia -- the chief opponents of war before the U.S. invasion -- sent lower level officials to the conference. Those countries have been opposed to what they see as too much U.S. control of the reconstruction process.
The United States has committed $20 billion to the effort. Spanish Economy Minister Rodrigo Rato said last Friday he hoped $15 billion to $20 billion would be raised, but Foreign Minister Ana Palacio told CNN last week that as little as $6 billion could be raised for a trust fund that the World Bank, United Nations and Iraqi authorities would manage.
Retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who planned and commanded the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, told a crowd at a charity event Wednesday night in New York that the United States is in a serious struggle against terrorism, not only within its borders but also in the free world. The former head of Central Command said, "The prize we seek is another 200 plus years of freedom in this country."
• An investigation into the August bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Iraq calls for reforms in the way the international body handles security in Baghdad, saying its security system was dysfunctional at the time of the attack that killed 22 people and wounded more than 150 others. In a report issued Wednesday, a panel appointed by Annan said "security awareness ... did not match the hostile environment." The panel recommended that new security arrangements be in place ahead of the return to the Iraqi capital of U.N. staff members, most of whom were moved out of country after the bombing. |
