An international conference held with aim of raising funds for the reconstruction of Iraq ended in Madrid yesterday.

In the opening ceremony of the conference on Thursday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called for generous and swift donations for the reconstruction of the country and stressed that the world should come together to help Iraq "regardless of their opinions on the war".

The UN and the World Bank have estimated that 36 billion dollars will be needed for the reconstruction of Iraq between 2004 and 2007. However, there were clear differences of opinion among the participants of the Madrid conference over the exact amount of the relief package.

World Bank President James Wolfensohn said at the conference that Iraq needs 36 billion dollars of assistance. However, Horst Koehler, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), told the conference that the IMF's assessment of Iraq's needs would depend on the ability of the Iraqi authorities to "effectively implement" assistance programs.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia -- both of which were invaded by Saddam's regime -- announced that they would be providing aid packages to Iraq worth 1.5 billion dollars and one billion dollars respectively. Saudi Arabia even told the conference that it was ready to reduce Iraq's heavy debt burden -- which the IMF estimates to be $120 billion -- if other creditors followed suit.

The United States said it had already pledged to contribute 20 billion dollars for rebuilding Iraq over 18 months, stressing, however, that it would provide the package half in the form of aid and the remainder in grants and bilateral assistance linked to contracts for U.S. corporations, many of which are linked to developing Iraq's huge oil reserves.

The White House also said it expects to channel some five billion dollars a year of Iraqi oil revenues into reconstruction, starting in 2005.

It is obvious that the U.S. was only trying to curry favor with its announcement that it would provide its relief packages as grants, and there is no doubt that the White House has plans to plunder Iraq's resources in the long run.

U.S. multinational corporations, most of which are controlled by Zionist shareholders, are now trying to exert influence on the Iraqi economy in order to set the stage for Israel to establish a presence in the country.

This is in fact the reason why the U.S. is insisting that it should be allowed to supervise Iraq's reconstruction before a constitution is drawn up for the country and free elections are held to establish an independent government.

On the other hand, the UN and certain countries, including France and Germany, believe that the donations pledged at the Madrid conference should be spent on Iraq's reconstruction under UN supervision.

The Iraqi people are well aware of the fact that it will be impossible to rebuild Iraq before certain fundamental steps are taken to promote stability in the country, most notably preparing the ground for the establishment of a democratically elected Iraqi government. Therefore, patriotic Iraqis will make diligent efforts to ensure that plans to plunder Iraq under the cover of reconstruction projects are doomed to failure.