Gulf states pledge billions to repair Iraq

MIDDLE EAST: Gulf Arab nations have pledged billions of dollars in financial support to help Iraq rebuild after its war to defeat Islamic State, in what may be an effort to weaken Iranian influence there.

The United Arab Emirates had pledged investments of US$5.5 billion in the private sector and

US$500 million for reconstruction, the country’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, said yesterday at a conference in the opulent Bayan Palace south of Kuwait City. Saudi Arabia had pledged $1.5b in assistance, Qatar

$1b, and Kuwait $2b, officials said. ‘‘We are seeing a stronger Iraqi central government,’’ Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said. ‘‘We are seeing an Iraqi government that is asserting its authority over all parts of Iraq, and we encourage that.’’

The economic challenges facing Iraq’s government are massive.

Iraq was unlikely to receive the

$88b in aid it had requested, a Gulf official said at the conference. Iraq had so far received $10.5b in sovereign loans, $11.6b in non-sovereign credit, financing and project guarantees, and about $1.7b from other sources, he said.

Gulf states wary of Iran’s growing power in the region, and specifically in Iraq, may see the financial support as a way to diminish that sway. During the

31⁄2-year war, Iraq’s Shi-itedominated government was buoyed by assistance from neighbouring Iran, which sent powerful militias to join the fight against the Sunni jihadists.

‘‘It is clear they want to gain greater influence and counter Iran as it faces increasing uncertainty and pushback in Iraq and the region,’’ Paul Sullivan, a Middle East specialist at Georgetown University in Washington, said.

– Washington Post