Iraqi officials pleaded for donor countries to honour pledges to their war-torn country for reconstruction at a conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. "Please do not delay - the time to make firm commitments is now. Honour your pledges now," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said at the conference. A total of 55 countries and organizations were attending the two-day conference, including some that opposed the United States-led war in Iraq - Russia, France and Germany. During last year's aid meeting in Madrid, about 40 countries and organizations promised 13.6 billion dollars in grants and loans to Iraq. However, only about one billion dollars of that has been deposited in World Bank and U.N. funds, due mainly to concerns about security in Iraq. Many donors fear that the security condition and instability in Iraq will undermine reconstruction efforts. Iraqi Planning Minister Mehdi Hafedh said the country will step up efforts to improve national security and police forces, and boost oil production. He said 5,000 new policemen begin duties every week after completing training and the size of the Iraqi border guard force will be doubled by January. During the meeting, host nation Japan and other donors will ask France, Germany and Russia to join their group and provide funds to the Iraqi reconstruction fund. --more 1133 Local Time 0833 GMT
