Posted on 03/27/2003 5:17:43 AM PST by kattracks
U.S. defends Iraq contracts, EU demands U.N. role
By David Evans
BRUSSELS, March 27 (Reuters) - As Britain and the United States thrash out plans to rebuild a post-war Iraq, a senior U.S. official on Thursday defended the awarding of relief and reconstruction contracts to American firms.
The European Union meanwhile insisted the United Nations must be "in the driving seat" in post-conflict Iraq, in contrast to Washington's plans for a more limited U.N. role.
Alan Larson, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural affairs, on a fence-mending trip to Europe after bitter divisions over Iraq, insisted the Bush administration's primary aim was helping the Iraqi people.
British companies have complained of being left out in the cold by U.S. aid and reconstruction guidelines, which say primary contracts must go to U.S. firms, which can then hand-pick subcontractors from anywhere in the world.
"I am surprised there should be any concern over contracts," Larson told journalists in Brussels after meeting EU officials.
The motivation behind contract awards was to restore disrupted electricity supplies, open up ports and ensure that water was safe to drink as quickly as possible, he said.
"It's the responsible thing to do," he said. "These contracts are about how we help the Iraqi people effectively."
Britain, Washington's only major military partner in the war, has lobbied the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) after it became clear that firms such as Amec(AMEC.L), Balfour Beatty (BBY.L) and Carillion (CLLN.L) could lose out.
Calling EU-U.S. ties a "high maintenance relationship," Larson implicitly criticised the way French President Jacques Chirac had rebuked EU candidate countries which publicly backed the U.S. hardline stand on Iraq.
"Most troubling was to see some member state leaders and Commission officials dressing down other EU countries and accession candidates simply for agreeing with the United States on Iraq, as if that was somehow 'un-European'," he said.
UN HUMANITARIAN ROLE
In Athens, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, insisted the United Nations must play a pivotal role in post-war Iraq.
"Return to international law will be achieved if the United Nations take on a central role," Simitis told parliament. "The United Nations must be in the driving seat."
Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas told reporters: "Iraq is not the protectorate of anyone else, it does not belong to some who think they can manage it as they like."
EU states want the world body to have wider powers than the United States appears willing to accept.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was due to meet U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday, seeking to put the United Nations at the centre of post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
Larson said Washington was working for a U.N. resolution giving Secretary-General Kofi Annan access to funds in the oil-for-food programme to provide humanitarian support to Iraq.
"The United Nations has an important role," he said.
He said rebuilding Iraq was one area where the United States and Europe should now focus cooperation, but he had not come to Brussels armed with a blueprint.
Damage to the Iraqi economy had "not just happened in the last seven days," he said.
"This is not mainly about repairing the damage from the present military campaign, one that is being conducted with great restraint," he said. "The destruction we will be trying to repair is the result of 20 years of oppressive rule."
03/27/03 08:11 ET
Whatever power and authority it pretends to possess can only come from countries who have no economy, and see the opportunity to extort money from inventive and purposeful nations. In brief, the so-called United Nations is a criminal enterprise.
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