Assistance – Palestinian reconstruction discussed in Oslo – World Bank press release

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES' RECONSTRUCTION DISCUSSED IN OSLO.

International donors gather Wednesday and Thursday in Oslo, Norway, to discuss emergency assistance to the Palestinian territories, reports Les Echos (p.6).

The World Bank estimated that total destructions of Palestinian infrastructure amounted up to $307 million by the end of 2001, and probably reach $600 million today, according to a recent statement by its president James Wolfensohn. The evaluation of total damage will never be exhaustive, say diplomats from East-Jerusalem. The Israeli Army did not only destroy physical infrastructure but also immaterial values such as civilian and administrative archives which serve, for example, tax collection, the piece says.

Donors will today consider a reconstruction cost estimated at $2 billion, with the following thought in mind: "A Palestinian economy has always been one of the cornerstones of the reconciliation process [between Israelis and Palestinians ]", according to the World Bank's regional representative Nigel Roberts. Dagsavisen and Dagbladet (both Norway) also report.