The United States is facing stiff resistance from its allies to help pay for the reconstruction of Iraq, and a major donor conference scheduled for Madrid next month is now in doubt, according to UN diplomatic sources in New York.
As it stands, US expectations for the October 23rd-24th conference have been substantially lowered in the absence of a firm understanding of the UN role in Iraq and because of the worsening security situation, according to the Washington Post.
A US team will today meet officials from the UN, the EU, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Brussels to prepare for the conference, which was designed to attract more than 50 potential international donors.
The resistance stems from the reluctance of the US to share political and economic control in Iraq and the failure of US-led coalition forces to guarantee security for reconstruction projects.
The conference was called to help the US pay the "several tens of billions of dollars" needed for Iraq to start functioning again, according to the US civilian administrator, Mr Paul Bremer. An overhaul of the Iraqi power grid alone would cost $13 billion and a system to deliver clean water would cost an estimated $16 billion, he said last week.
Before the war US officials predicted that oil revenues would pay for reconstruction, but continuing violence has disrupted oil sales and discouraged investors. The US administration faces a stormy legislative session over the cost of the Iraq operation. White House spokesman Mr Scott McClellan said yesterday that the US would seek more funds from Congress, which is already grappling with a predicted $480 billion federal deficit next year and a monthly bill of $3.9 billion to keep the military in Iraq.
Potential international donors are concerned about the serious disruption of the UN operation in Baghdad since the August 19th explosion which killed the UN's Iraq representative, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello. The UN is currently reassessing its role in Iraq and some officials are suggesting the donor conference should be postponed until it has rebuilt its Iraq team. Washington has reacted positively to plans for an international fund controlled by the UN and the World Bank that would be co-ordinated with US programmes and ultimately funded by oil revenues.
One killed in attack on Iraqi police HQ: page 11