Finance chiefs from rich nations agreed yesterday to back a new resolution by the United Nations Security Council aimed at speeding reconstruction in Iraq, cooling tension among themselves about how to fix the country's war-racked economy.
Group of Seven ministers also found common ground in agreeing to push for debt relief for Iraq, according to a communique issued at the end of their meeting. The statement also pledged the G7 -- the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan -- would focus on reinvigorating a "subdued" recovery in their own economies.
In the run-up to the meetings, US officials urged quick action by the World Bank to assess Iraq's financial needs, arguing there was no need to wait for a UN resolution recognizing a new government in Baghdad.
In the communique, though, G7 ministers said Iraq's needs were so great it needed multilateral help, effectively heading off a renewal of the row that pitted the United States against France and Germany for months at the United Nations before the US-led attack against Iraq began.
Finance ministers and central bankers from the wealthy nations met on the fringes of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which were likely to take up Iraqi reconstruction among other issues.