U.S., U.N. Seek Billions to Rebuild Iraq

Thursday, October 23, 2003

(4:18 PM ET)

By Barry Schweid

Associated Press Writer

Both Annan and Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to lower expectations that Washington would come away with the entire amount it wants at the conference -- $35.8 billion through 2007. Powell acknowledged “it may take time to meet the goal” of more than $55 billion set by the World Bank, which includes the Bush administration's pledge of about $20 billion.

Chairman of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, left, sits with the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell at the start of the International Donor's Conference for the reconstruction of Iraq in Madrid, Spain, Thursday Oct. 23, 2003.

Image Credit: Fernando Llano -- AP

MADRID, Spain -- AP
American and Iraqi officials urged nearly 80 nations at a donors conference Thursday to pledge billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq, but a senior European official said expectations should be kept low.

“You cannot expect European taxpayers, who felt pretty hostile to military intervention, to feel terribly enthusiastic about spending a large amount of money in Iraq,” Chris Patten, the European Union's external affairs commissioner, told reporters as the conference began.

In fact, Patten said, Iraq would have difficulty absorbing even the contributions already promised, which include about $20 billion by the Bush administration and $1.5 billion by Japan.

Nevertheless, American officials think that when the pledges begin Friday, they will significantly exceed most expectations, with Persian Gulf countries offering considerable aid, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The senior U.S. official in Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer, who attended the session with scores of Iraqi officials and business leaders, said it was too early to know what donations would be.

Asked about World Bank estimates that Iraq could absorb only about $5.6 billion in aid the first year, Bremer said that spending the money President Bush has asked for would not be a problem.
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2003 © The Associated Press.

Dan