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Swiss host Iraq
Twenty-nine countries are taking part in a special conference this weekend to prepare for theThe meeting, which is taking place in Geneva, has been organised by the Swiss Foreign Ministry and will also be attended by leading humanitarian organisations, including the Red Cross and the United Nations Refugee Agency. But the United States has declined to attend the conference, saying it has already made extensive preparations. That we have. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, which is chairing this gathering, says the tone of discussions will be highly practical and will focus on the logistics of providing help to Iraq in the event of any war. The states invited include all those with borders to Iraq, the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the European Union. "Let's all get together and talk! Sure beats doing anything for a living." Iraq itself was not invited and the US declined to attend, saying it could not see what use the conference would be. "We're busy right now. Press '1' to leave a message." It is true that this is not exactly a high-powered meeting - no country is sending a ministerial representative except Switzerland - and that is only because the whole event was the brain child of the Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy Rey. Another meddling weasel. She had hoped to stage a major "last chance for peace" conference in Geneva, bringing together the US and Iraq, but her proposal was rebuffed by US Secretary of State Colin Powell last month at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos. Ah, now I understand why we didn't send a representative. Devil's always in the details! However this weekend's meeting will be attended by the heads of some UN humanitarian agencies. On lavish expense accounts. They have already appealed for more than $100m of aid to get food and medicines in place in case of war with Iraq. Let me guess who they expect to pony us for this. Posted by: Steve White 2003-02-16 |
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