US lets NZ in on deals with Iraq

New Zealand is on a list of countries eligible for rebuilding contracts in Iraq, although the Government opposed the war.

The United States has banned some countries which opposed the war against Iraq from competing for contracts worth an estimated US$18.6 billion ($28.7 billion).

France, Germany and Russia led international opposition to the invasion in March and they are among excluded nations which have voiced frustration at the US decision.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said the list of eligible countries encompassed those which were helping with the postwar reconstruction effort.

New Zealand has sent Army engineers to repair infrastructure, and has given humanitarian aid.

No further comment was available from the Government.

The Green Party, which strongly opposed the war, said it was disappointed New Zealand had not been blacklisted.

"We should turn down any of the prime contracts offered by the US in solidarity with France and Germany, who have been excluded because of their opposition to the war," said its foreign affairs spokesman, Keith Locke.

"The shameful thing is that New Zealand isn't on the blacklist, and it gives a lie to [Prime Minister] Helen Clark's pronouncements that in sending Army engineers to Iraq we were not supporting the war and the subsequent US and British occupation."

New Zealand is on a list of 63 countries which can compete for the contracts - it begins with Afghanistan and ends with Uzbekistan.

Australia committed troops to the invasion and Prime Minister John Howard yesterday defended the US decision to exclude nations which opposed the war.

"You're dealing with American dollars and I can understand exactly what the Americans are getting at."

Reports from Washington say the US has reopened a rift with Europe just as its damaged relations with Germany, France and Russia seemed to be on the mend.

- NZPA

Herald Feature: Iraq