Thursday, June 23 2005 14:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Brussels: The United States and the United Nations said a once-divided world community had reached a turning point yesterday (Jun 22, 2005) in helping Iraq's new leaders build a democratic nation and crush a raging rebellion.

At an international conference full of promises of support but unclear on concrete action, diplomats from some 80 nations, including India, and organisations gave strong backing to efforts to build a democratic, independent and peaceful Iraq.

But there were also calls on the Baghdad Government to ensure security and stability, and on its neighbours to crack down on the movement of insurgents into the country. "I'm confident this will be a turning point in Iraq's transition," UN chief Kofi Annan said in closing comments echoed by US and European diplomats at the one-day gathering in Brussels.

Putting rows over the 2003 US-led invasion behind them, the diplomats vowed to give the aid and expertise to help Iraq build democratic political bodies, revive its economy and form a self-sufficient police and Army.

India is represented at the conference by External Affaiars Mnister K Natwar Singh. Few concrete steps were taken however. In the wake of donor conferences in Madrid in 2003 and 2004 in Tokyo that have yet to deliver on most pledges of aid, a third one is scheduled for mid-July in Amman.

Iraqi officials said aid had been slow coming partly because of fears over security and corruption, and Annan and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Iraqis had to take steps to merit the support.

Annan said that Iraq's future "lies in the hands of the Iraqis themselves," who must assume responsibility for re-establishing security, generating employment, providing basic services and ensuring human rights.

He said the process of drafting a new constitution, which Iraq's interim Government must complete by August, was a "seminal opportunity" to create a country ruled by law and represented by all ethnic and religious groups. "None of this will be easy," he conceded.

Rice recently berated the Government of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, who is a Shiite Muslim, for not doing enough to involve Sunni Muslims, who used to dominate Iraq until Saddam Hussein's ouster and are thought to make up most of the insurgents, in the constitution-writing process.

Jaafari promised that Baghdad would assume its responsibilities, including ensuring its own security.

The Brussels conference was the first of its kind attended by the Baghdad Government elected in Iraq's landmark democratic elections in January, which helped defuse anger in Europe over the invasion.

Rice earlier said Iraqis deserved the full support of countries represented here, including Russia, Japan, China, Malaysia, India, Brazil, Iran, Turkey and most Arab nations, but that Baghdad had "obligations" of its own.

"To maximize the financial benefits of assistance, the new Iraqi Government must continue to improve security, liberalize its economy and open political space for all members of Iraqi society who reject violence," she said.

An upbeat Rice, echoing Annan's earlier comments, spoke of a "new chapter" in international efforts to rebuild Iraq, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, too, was in buoyant mood.