"Now is the time for us all to be generous," Powell

MADRID, October 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – While the countries of the U.S.-led occupation coalition waited Friday, October 24, to hear how much money they will garner for the reconstruction of the shattered, oil-rich country, Iraqi civilians are lost in the labyrinth of the occupation-run service centers which they keep visiting, in vain, to request aid.

At the Madrid international donors conference, the two Arab states of Saudi Arabia and Iraq's former foe Kuwait both pledged one billion dollars each on to Iraq.

Japan, meanwhile, stressing both international and domestic concerns, said it will increase its aid to a total of five billion dollars in aid for 2004-2007 - boosting an earlier pledge of 1.5 billion - to help rebuild the country shattered by decades of war and 13 years of economic sanctions, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

A statement in Tokyo said Japan, a backer of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, viewed reconstruction critical for both the "Iraqi people and for peace and stability in the Middle East region and the international community," but also stated "it is directly linked to national interest of our country which depends on the Middle East region for nearly 90 percent of its oil resources."

However, concern was still rife that pledges would fall far short of targets despite World Bank president James Wolfensohn's appeal that the Iraq was "really on its back".

"Substantial" Aid

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell urged delegates to make "substantial" aid pledges "to overcome Saddam Hussein's bitter legacy of oppression".

"Now is the time for us all to be generous," Powell told the second and final day of the meeting in the Spanish capital.

"Now is the time we can help the Iraqi people shape ... an Iraq as a model for the region," Powell said. "Whatever form your aid takes, it must be substantial."

Wolfensohn, for his part, announced the World Bank would pledge loans of up to five billion dollars over the next five years, while the International Monetary Fund offered a package worth up to a maximum 4.25 billion dollars over a three-year period.

World Bank and U.N. economists put Iraq's needs at 36 billion dollars for the coming four years, to which the interim U.S.-led authority adds a further 20 billion needed to guarantee oilfield security, overall security and clean up the environment.

The 70 donors nations and organizations at the conference are being asked to contribute to a fund under the auspices of the World Bank and the U.N., whereas U.S. aid will come under the control of a separate fund it set up in May 2003 to start rebuilding the economy of the country with the world's second largest known oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.

Anti-war states, notably France and Germany, have been concerned about making large-scale pledges before a freely elected government takes power in Baghdad, while other states - notably Arab - have been loath to be seen as endorsing the U.S. occupation or concerned about making investments in a country still racked by major instability.

While Wolfensohn called on delegates Friday to forget past differences over Iraq, IMF managing director Horst Koehler told them there was no way around the imperative of rebuilding Iraq whose prosperity the IMF sees as a key factor in underpinning overall stability in the Middle East.

"A virtuous circle of growing Iraq and a vibrant Middle East region needs to be generated," he said.

Britain and Spain, staunch U.S. allies in the Iraq war, have thrown in some 1.2 billion between them and other E.U. states about 800 million, including anti-war Germany which pitched in 236 million dollars.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer defended Berlin's amount amid suggestions it was far from generous, telling state-run TV channel ZDF: "Two hundred million is not exactly small change".

Anti-war France will contribute under the 200 million euro contribution of the E.U., where France pays 18 percent of the budget. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Wednesday Paris "did not envision any supplementary aid at this stage".

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan opened the conference Monday urging donor countries not to wait for an end to the U.S. occupation, which Powell, in an interview in French paper Le Figaro, said would not be for another year at the earliest.

"The Iraqis must draft their constitution... then there have to be elections. It would be difficult to imagine that all that could be done in less than a year," Powell said, according to the French text.

Compensation Lost In Maze Of Bureaucracy

Carrying ousted Saddam portraits, Iraqis protest harsh conditions under occupation

In a separate-related development, Iraqis are reportedly suffering in their quest for getting aid and compensation promised by the U.S.-led occupation authority.

"Go seek another service", "No information", "No compensation here," is all Raad Hady hears in the labyrinth of the coalition-run service centers which he has visited five times, all in vain, to request aid, according to AFP.

Hady, at the age of 32, has no house or job.

He had to leave his home along with his mother, who has cancer, and his sister and her four sons because he could not keep up with inflated rents since U.S. forces invaded Iraq last spring.

Since then, he squats with other families in a public building, abandoned after the April fall of Baghdad to U.S. troops. But the government now wants to claim back such buildings.

Hady's first steps to obtain housing were taken in August. He twice visited the gates of the former presidential palace, where most of the offices of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) are located.

He requested to see the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, or any other official, but he was not let in.

Hady then ended up at the CPA's human rights center, located not far from the palace compound. "They told me that they are not giving material compensation, that a shelter exists for the homeless but that they are all full," he was quoted by AFP as saying.

The Iraqi Aid Center, which receives 200 requests a day, also recommended that Hady "return later". One of the employees explained that his case could not be accepted there, so he left.

Then, one of this co-tenants was lucky enough to be granted an apartment, proudly showing Hady a document written in English. Although Hady did not know what the document was, he wanted one.

So, he went back to the aid center but this time he was told, "They (Americans) talked about it (some sort of compensation), but we don't have any information."

One Iraqi CPA employee summed it up: "It's an office without answers."

Although Hady's life has been hit hard by the U.S. occupation, the only people eligible for compensation are those who have lost a loved one or had property destroyed by U.S. forces since May 1, when Washington declared an end to major hostilities.

"We are sending them to the 'military civilians operations center'. But we don't have a very clear idea what it (the center) is about," explained an aid center employee, Mohanad Abdel Mohsen.

According to Sergeant Jay Bashar, an American official at the aid center, U.S. military legal experts study new files to determine if people qualify for compensation.

Concerning the recurring issue of compensation for war damages, Abdel Mohsen acknowledged that he had no information to provide for those applying.

"We tell them to come back much later or wait for an announcement from the interim Governing Council," he said.

A translator at the center for human rights said desperate people should not be turned away without respect.

So, "we tell them that a committee will be formed in the future, and to go to another service or association, or to wait for an announcement on television," said Luay Hamid al-Jabburi.

Politeness can help in calming those seeking compensation, who sometimes scream out of desperation.

"They come without a house, without money, and they leave without hope," said Abdel Mohsen.

Bashar agreed that the procedure for Iraqis was "boring" and that "time is required for the CPA to be well organized."

But he said people's stories change constantly according to who is telling them. "And it takes time to verify what they are saying because lots of them are lying."