Germany To Take Part in Iraq Donor Conference

The German government has confirmed it will send representatives to the Iraq donor conference planned for late October in Madrid. A spokeswoman for the government confirmed Germany would participate in the meeting but did not say whether German cabinet ministers would travel to Madrid since official invitations have not yet been issued and the organizing committee has not yet defined the conference's format. Berlin expects the international financial organizations to take responsibility for the majority of Iraqi reconstruction. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has said Germany would not play a military role in Iraq, but has offered to train Iraqi police and soldiers and to help rebuild the water supply and sewage system if German companies are invited to participate. The United States, the European Union, Japan the United Arab Emirates, the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are organizing the conference, which will take place on Oct. 23 and 24 in the Spanish capital.