UN General Secretary Kofi Annan (L) and German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder address a news conference in Berlin.
Schroeder criticized the United States for barring countries that opposed
the Iraq war from bidding for reconstruction contracts in Iraq.
[AFP] |
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov delivers
a speech on international relations in Munich, southern Germany, late
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003. Ivanov argued on Thursday, the U.S.-led war on
Iraq weakened the international fight against terrorism by causing new
divisions. Ivanov referred to a U.S. decision to bar opponents of the war,
such as Russia, Germany and France, from reconstruction contracts in
Iraq. [AP] |
United Nations general secretary Kofi Anan (L)
and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder address the media following their
talks in Berlin December 11, 2003. The UN joined European leaders on
Thursday in denouncing a U.S. decision to bar key American allies who
opposed the Iraq war from sharing in contracts to rebuild the country. 'It
is up to those who took the decision to reverse it or maintain it and I
hope something will be done about it,' Annan told reporters.
[Reuters] |
French President Jacques Chirac (C) and
Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin (L). The French government is
studying the legality of the US decision to bar countries from competing
for reconstruction contracts in Iraq Dec. 10, 2003. [AFP] |
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
insisted that the United States was within its rights to bar nations
opposed to the Iraq war from bidding for prime reconstruction contracts
worth billions of dollars. [AFP] |
U.S. President George W. Bush makes a point as
he talks to the press after the last cabinet meeting of the year in the
West Wing of the White House December 11, 2003. Bush on Thursday rejected
European criticism of his decision to bar Iraq war opponents from $18.6
billion in U.S.-funded reconstruction projects in Iraq, saying the
contracts would be reserved for those countries that risked lives in
Iraq. [Reuters] |
