EU to pledge EUR200m in Iraq aid
The European Union yesterday pledged 200 million euros (141 million pounds) to assist reconstruction efforts in post-Saddam Iraq.
The European Commission is expected to contribute 200 million euros at a donors’ conference in Madrid later this month, according to EU external affairs commissioner Chris Patten.
The United Nations and World Bank have estimated the total cost of reconstruction in Iraq at over 45 billion pounds.
Mr Patten said: “Some people have said that is too much, some have said that is too little. I think it is a realistic amount, especially given our budgetary constraints.
“If you compare what we are doing in Afghanistan with what we are doing in Iraq … the figures are pretty much identical.
“The security situation in Iraq obviously affects how rapidly we work on Iraq’s reconstruction. It is difficult to develop and reconstruct if bombs are going off in all directions.”
The Bush administration has asked Congress for more than $20 billion (12 billion pounds) for the reconstruction effort.
Separately, US Secretary of State Colin Powell briefed officials from the UK, Spain and Germany on Wednesday on the new draft Iraq resolution.
The resolution sets out the tasks ahead in the reconstruction of post-Saddam Iraq.
Mr Powell met with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, according to White House spokesman Richard Boucher.
The draft sets out the role of the UN in Iraq and emphasises that a multinational peacekeeping force aimed to transfer authority to the newly formed Iraqi government as soon as possible, Mr Boucher said.
