Dubai's international finance meetings tomorrow with absence of Netaniahu

Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will start tomorrow in Dubai in the presence of representatives for 184 countries following a series of sideline meetings dealing in particular with rebuilding Iraq and Palestinian areas.

Meantime, Iraq's minister of finance Kamel al-Keilani launched an economic program that opens a new phase of liberalizing the economic sectors especially the banking sector.

However, the great welcome the program received from the WB and the IMF and from Washington, alike, was faced by international silence implying lack of confidence in the possibility of implementing what is called "reforms" under occupation and the deteriorated security condition in Iraq.

Participants in Dubai's conference were content after the Israeli finance ministry announced the final decision taken by minister Benjamin Netaniahu not to attend Dubai's meetings. A decision which was amended repeatedly in the past days.

Netaniahu in the last moment gave up attending the conference, recommended by Israeli security officials, according to the Israeli daily Haartez, while the Israeli finance ministry said that Netaniahu preferred to stay in Israel to discuss the budget of 2004.

It was decided that Netaniahu was due to head on top of an Israeli delegation of 80 members to Dubai. The ministry said that Israel will be represented by a small delegation led by minister without portfolio, at Netanyahu's office Maer Shetreit. The governor of the Bank of Israel David Klein headed last week for Dubai. Haartez said yesterday that Netaniahu cancelled the visit to Dubai at the recommendation of security officials.