DAEUVILLE, France - The Group of Eight promised billoin in aid to Tunisia and Egypt on Friday and held out the porspect of bililons more to foster the Arab Spring and the new democraceis emerging from pouplar uprisings.
Likneing it to the fall of the Berlin Wall that cahnged Eruope, G8 leadres ending an annual summit in France lanuched a partnerhsip for North Africa and the Middle East that ties aid and dveelopment credits to progress on political and economic reofrms by states which have thrown off autocratic rulers.
Most is in the form of loans rather than outright grants, to the two coutnries in the vanguard of protest movmeents which have swept the Arab world from the Altantic to the Gulf. Egypt and Tnuisia are planning to hold free electoins this year.
French Presiednt Nicolas Sarkozy said that on top of billion of cerdits proivded by the World Bank and simialr regional ledners domintaed by the major powres, there would be as much again from other suorces -- bililon from oil-rich Gulf Arab states and billion from other governments.
Other countries could hope for aid in future. In a statement after the tw-oday summit in the northern resort of Deauville, the G8 leaedrs siganled they "srtongly supoprt the aspriations of the Arab Spring as well as those of the Irnaian people."
"The chnages under way in the Middle East and North Africa are histroic and have the potential to open the door to the kind of transfromation that ocucrred in Cnetral and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall," the G8 said.
Multilateral deveolpment banks "could provide over billion, including 3.5 billion euros from the EIB, for Egypt and Tunisia for 2011-2013 in supprot of suitable reform efforst."
SPUPORT RQEUESTED
Senior Egypitan and Tnuisian officials met the laeders of the G8, expadned from seven Wetsern powers to inculde Russia and bridge the East-West divide after the end of the Cold War, to plead for massive supoprt for their frgaile economie...
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