80 Countries to Weigh Solutions for Struggling Iraq
A
conference hosted by the U.S. and EU will give governments a chance to
support the fledgling Baghdad regime, which is to present its agenda.
By Tyler Marshall and Borzou Daragahi
Times Staff Writers
June 22, 2005
BRUSSELS — Representatives from 80 nations and various organizations
will discuss ways to alleviate Iraq's urgent financial, political and
security woes as they gather here today for a conference.
The meeting, hosted by the United States and the European Union at
Iraq's request, is expected to focus on helping the nascent government
in Baghdad survive and gain strength.
"The conference is an opportunity to build a new international
partnership for Iraq,"Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters en route to the conference
from the Middle East. She also referred to it as an agenda-setting
effort and "a kind of conversation between the new Iraqi government and
the international community about the way forward."
Although
she emphasized that the meeting in Brussels was not a donors
conference, it has the earmarks of a prelude to one. In part, the
meeting is a matchmaking exercise — a chance for the Iraqis to present
their political, economic and security agendas and for participating
nations to decide how to help.
Rice will co-chair the session
on security, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is
scheduled to co-chair a discussion of political issues.
There
had been early speculation that the Iraqis would strike a deal for the
cancellation of billions of dollars in foreign debt run up by Saddam
Hussein's regime, but Rice said Tuesday that was not likely to happen
in Brussels.
"I'm sure we'll have those conversations, but I don't expect an outcome
on that," she said.
Rice made her comments after several hours of talks with leaders in
Saudi Arabia, Iraq's biggest creditor.
Whatever happens, expectations are running high among Iraq's newly
elected politicians. They left Baghdad with hats in hand but chips on
their shoulders, saying that rich European and Asian countries should
give the new government respect as well as promised reconstruction aid.
"Countries all over the world used to support and aid Saddam Hussein
instead of the Iraqi people, who were tortured and abused by the tyrant
for more than 30 years," said Hussein Sadr, a member of Iraq's
transitional National Assembly. "It's time for them to aid the Iraqi
people this time and not the tyrant who killed us."
The
conference's U.S. and European hosts say the meeting is aimed at
drawing the new government into the international fold while applying
international pressure on the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim
Jafari to include Sunni Muslim Arabs and former Baath Party
sympathizers in the political process.
American officials worry
that political missteps by the Iraqi government, which is dominated by
Shiite Muslims and ethnic Kurds, could exacerbate the Sunni-led
insurgency, which has hampered reconstruction efforts, cost thousands
of lives and continues to target U.S. troops and Iraqi forces and
civilians.
For the Bush administration, just the fact that the
conference is taking place is significant. On one level, the meeting
has imposed a certain discipline on the Iraqi government to address
crucial near-term issues. In another sense, the gathering serves as a
formal introduction into the community of nations for a government born
of an internationally unpopular war.
As a consequence, Iraq has
been less than a magnet for assistance. So far, little of the $13
billion pledged at a donors conference nearly two years ago has been
delivered.
The White House also has been keen to show voters that countries other
than the U.S. are pitching in to stabilize Iraq.
Few details about the conference were released in advance, but
diplomats probably will discuss ways to seal Iraq's porous borders and
train its security forces. The nuts and bolts of reconstruction and aid
will come up at a conference in Jordan scheduled for this summer,
diplomats said.
Jafari and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari will
lead the 44-member Iraqi delegation. All of Iraq's neighbors —
including Iran and Syria, accused by the U.S. of aiding the insurgency
— will send delegations. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad rushed off to
the conference after quickly having his credentials accepted by the
transitional government Tuesday.
Most European and Muslim
countries opposed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and, despite
making occasional promises to help train, equip and fund Iraq's
government, have shied away from involvement in the country.
Among Arab nations, only Egypt has established full diplomatic ties
with Iraq's transitional government, voted into power Jan. 30. European
and Arab diplomats say they're reluctant to get involved in Iraq
because of ongoing security woes, rampant corruption and the shaky
legitimacy of the U.S.-backed leadership.
The transitional
government's struggle to provide basic services has exhausted the
patience of many Iraqis. Nearly half of Baghdad's residents have lived
without running water amid scorching heat for several days because of a
burst water main, the result of insurgent sabotage. Iraqis have
electricity for about six hours a day.
"Iraqis must see
improvement in their daily lives," Khalilzad, a native of Afghanistan
who served until recently as the U.S. ambassador there, said in a
statement Tuesday.
"I look forward to sitting down with
Iraqis to listen to their priorities and develop common approaches to
improving economic conditions and the delivery of essential services by
accelerating reconstruction and building a new prosperity in Iraq."
Facing a growing insurgency last year, the U.S. diverted much of the
money earmarked for Iraqi reconstruction to immediate security needs.
Iraqis hope Europeans can make up the difference.
Officials in
the transitional government are incensed that funds promised at
previous conferences have yet to arrive or have been diverted to other
countries.
Canada, for example, agreed to pitch in $250 million
to train Iraqi police but eventually spent the money to build academies
in Jordan and Egypt.
"There are very high expectations on the
part of the Iraqis," said Mohammed Askari, an analyst at the Iraqi
Ministry of Defense.
Daragahi reported from
Baghdad and Marshall from Brussels. Times staff writers Paul Richter in
Washington and Caesar Ahmed and Shamil Aziz in Baghdad contributed to
this report.
