The World Bank may be headed back to Iraq, reports the Financial Times.
Paul Wolfowitz, the president of the World Bank and one of the main advocates within the Bush administration for the invasion of Iraq, is considering sending bank staff back to the troubled state to help with rebuilding. “One of the things we are looking at is whether we would be more effective if we had a presence in Iraq,” Mr Wolfowitz has said. “It’s a difficult environment to operate (in) so the disbursement rate is pretty low.”
The World Bank withdrew its personnel from Iraq in August 2003 following a bombing near its headquarters. Since then the international lender has run its operations from Amman, the Jordanian capital. Returning staff to Iraq would be seen as a vote of confidence in the ability of the US to stabilise the country, which some fear is descending into civil war between Shia and Sunni communities.
It would certainly be a welcome move.
