London Spends 600 Million Dollars On Iraqi Reconstruction

BAGHDAD, Aug 11 (AFP) - Britain has spent 330 million pounds (602 million US dollars) on humanitarian aid for Iraq and reconstruction work but this is progressing "more expensively and more slowly" than envisaged because of violence, a British official said here on Wednesday.
"The British Department for International Developmment has allowed more than 330 million sterling to be spent on humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in Iraq," Yussef Samiullah told a press conference.
He recalled that at a donors meeting in October 2003 in Madrid, London had promised one billion dollars.
But daily clashes, the wave of kidnapping -- particularly of foreign workers and businessmen -- and frequent sabotage on the oil infrastructure had affected reconstruction.
The British grants included 153 million dollars for UN programmes in Iraq, 58 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross, and 1.82 million to non-governmental organisations.