P.M. BRIEFING : Baker Proposes Mideast Bank for Reconstruction After War
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WASHINGTON — Secretary of State James A. Baker III today proposed a new Middle East Bank for Reconstruction and Development to help rebuild that region after the Persian Gulf War.
The entire region, including Iraq, “warrants the same spirit of multilateral commitment to reconstruction and development” as the world’s developed nations have shown in other areas, including Europe and Latin America, Baker said.
Baker suggested in terms stronger than previously used that aid to Iraq will be more likely if Saddam Hussein is no longer in power at the end of the war.
“There is no suggestion on our part that the rebuilding of Iraq could proceed, if the current leadership of Iraq remained in power, to the same extent and degree that it could otherwise,” he said in response to a question from Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) in an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Baker also said that if Hussein remains in power “we might very well be adopting different measures” regarding economic embargoes and weapons controls than if the Iraqi president is gone.
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