UN team pursues talks to rebuild Iraq amid leaders' scramble

UN envoys were holding further talks here yesterday as US-led coalition officials and Iraq's interim leaders scrambled to bring tangible benefits of democracy to Iraqis ahead of the return of sovereignty.

A visiting UN team was to meet with heads of various departments of the US-picked interim Governing Council following talks Monday that focused on preparations for elections after the June 30 handover of power to Iraqis.

The talks were taking place against a backdrop of festering violence across Iraq that left one US soldier dead as well as two British troops slightly injured on Monday.

The coalition, meanwhile, gave details of its blueprint to kickstart the rebuilding of the war-wrecked country, with an infusion of 12 billion dollars earmarked for the construction sector.

"By the time Iraq is sovereign on June 30, 50,000 Iraqis will be working on jobs funded" by the United States government, with tens of thousands of additional jobs in the pipeline when 2,300 projects get underway, US overseer Paul Bremer said Monday.

The US Congress has earmarked 18.4 billion dollars for reconstruction in Iraq, more than a third of the 55 billion dollars that the World Bank estimates will be needed to get Iraq back on its feet.

The head of the US office managing reconstruction funds in Iraq, David Nash, said priority would go to six key sectors: -- electricity; water resources and public works; security and justice; transportation and communications; buildings, education and health; and oil.

Interim planning minister Mehdi Hafez said that liberating "millions of people from poverty and poor living standards inherited from the ancient regime will contribute to dealing with the roots of black terrorism and create a good environment for the new Iraq."