A two-day conference on the reconstruction of Iraq will open in Madrid Thursday, with the participation of about 1,200 representatives from 58 countries, 25 multilateral organizations and 225 companies.

The conference would seek to "set long-term reconstruction priorities, perhaps stretching over 10 years or longer, draw the participation of various countries and create a multilateral fund" for getting Iraq back on its feet, Spanish officials said Tuesday.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is scheduled to launch the proceedings jointly with World Bank President James Wolfensohn on Thursday by opening technical discussions, but he will not attend the conference proper.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, and foreign ministers from Japan and Italy will attend the conference, while most other countries would send lower-level delegations.

Hoping to get more cash and troops from other countries to rebuild Iraq and ease the burden on the United States, which won a critical UN resolution last week, the Spanish government proposed the donors' conference at the beginning of this month.

Aznar, who supports the US policy on Iraq, sees the conference as a key element in a drive to create a stable, democratic Iraq, which he believes could have enormous consequences.

According to the World Bank, at least US$55 billion are needed to finance the reconstruction of Iraq over the 2004-2007 period, to get Iraq's economy up and running again.

So far, a gross donation of US$27 billion has been promised. The majority of it, or US$20.3 billion, is to be provided by the United States, but the US Congress wants US$10 billion of that to be loans.

Japan will contribute US$1.5 billion, to cover the most urgent reconstruction needs of next year although Tokyo is ready to give additional assistance for the 2004-2007 period.

Britain will be the third most important donor, with US$912 million, and Spain the fourth, with US$300 million, to the fund for reconstruction and development for Iraq.

Of the multilateral institutions, the World Bank will provide US$3 billion to US$4 billion, while the International Monetary Fund will give some US$400 million.

The European Commission will provide more than US$230 million from the EU common budget until late-2004.

Despite the passing of the new UN resolution on Iraq last week, France, Germany and Russia, which strongly opposed the US-led war in Iraq, have made it clear that they will contribute no more money to Iraq's reconstruction.

Germany said it is not going to donate more money to Iraq as it has already made substantial contributions to the EU donations to the country.

Russia is not planning any assistance to Iraq at this stage, but its companies are ready to invest in that country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov, who will head a delegation to the Madrid conference, said on Tuesday.

"We see no conditions at the moment for Russia's involvement in the rebuilding of Iraq as a donor," said Fedotov.

(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2003)