Iraq says it wants to be active on world scene

UNITED NATIONS -- At the launch of the first conference on Iraq's reconstruction, an Iraqi delegation chosen by the U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday its presence shows that the country wants to be "an active player" in the international community after years of isolation.

Mark Malloch Brown, administrator of the U.N. Development Program which organized the conference, praised the coalition for sending the 12-member Iraqi delegation to the conference of potential donors from 50 countries.

But he and other senior U.N. officials stressed that the delegation was no substitute for a representative interim government to help lead the reconstruction effort.

Malloch Brown expressed hope that plans announced this weekend by L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator of Iraq, for a political council and constitutional conference "will provide some more formal Iraqi political interface" before a follow-up donor's conference on reconstruction in the fall.

Tuesday's conference was aimed at laying down a process to assess Iraq's reconstruction needs ahead of later meetings of donors, Malloch Brown said.

Alan Larson, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic affairs, said he expected the donor conference to take place in October.

The Iraqi team's participation Tuesday "is a sign that Iraq is returning to the international community after long years of political and economic and social isolation," said the delegation's head, Akila Al Hashimi.

"It also shows that Iraq is desirous of becoming an active player in the international community ... building its community on respect for law and peaceful coexistence in an Arab and regional context, with the cooperation of all the countries of the world," she said.

Unlike Afghanistan and East Timor, which had no revenue of their own, Iraq is the world's second-largest oil producer.

International donors at a conference in Japan last year pledged about $5 billion to help rebuild Afghanistan. Since then, only about $2 billion has been delivered.

Malloch Brown encouraged the coalition to ensure that Iraq's budget and revenue projections are ready by the next conference. He said the coalition, the United Nations and donors also need to consider the standard that should be used for Iraq's reconstruction -- to where it was in 1980, or 1990, or to focus on the U.N. goals to provide universal elementary school education, reduce infant mortality and cut poverty.

Larson said Iraq was expected to pump 1.5 million barrels of oil daily by the end of the month, rising to 2 million barrels a day by year's end.

Larson said officials hoped Iraq would produce $3.5 billion in net revenue for the rest of the year, and between $13 billion and $16 billion next year.