Thousands of Spaniards took to the streets on Thursday in protest of a two-day donors conference for Iraq, which is being held in the Spanish capital.
Many demonstrators waved colorful banners and shouted slogans such as "Donors No! Robbers" and "We Wont Pay For Your Pillage" while police officers lined the streets and a helicopter circled overhead.
The Spanish government, the host of the conference, was one of the supporters of the US-led war in Iraq, although opinion polls showed that about three-quarters of the Spaniards opposed the war.
Hoping to get more cash and troops from other countries to rebuild Iraq and ease the burden on the United States, the Spanish government proposed the donors conference at the beginning of this month.
The first day of the conference featured largely technical discussions on Iraq's needs in areas such as education, health care and power grid.
In his opening speech at the conference, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said success in rebuilding Iraq depends not only on the availability of resources, but also on a number of other factors, such as security, Iraqi ownership and leadership.
So far, US$27 billion in donations have been promised. However, about US$56 billion are estimated to be needed over the next four years for the reconstruction of Iraq.
About 1,200 representatives from 71 countries, 20 international organizations and 225 private companies attended the conference.
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2003)
