- BAGHDAD -- The beheading
of an American by militants on videotape has sent a wave of fear through
Western contractors working on the reconstruction of Iraq.
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- In the wake of the killing of Nick Berg, 26 who was working
on restoring communications towers, there are fears that Western staff
and companies may flee Iraq, and the already slow reconstruction effort
may grind to a complete halt.
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- It is a far cry from the bonanza of lucrative reconstruction
contracts envisaged before the war, that were supposed to make the invasion
and occupation of Iraq a self-financing affair. Today the American group
Bechtel employs two security staff for every one of its Western employees
in Baghdad. The biggest American contractor, Halliburton, has seen 34 of
its employees killed in Iraq.
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- There is little sign of reconstruction. Electricity is
still only available for 12 hours of the day in Baghdad, a city of 5 million
people. There is no sign of road building, and Baghdad's sewer system is
collapsing.
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- Just hours before the gruesome videotape of Mr Berg's
death emerged on Tuesday, two Russian engineers were taken hostage on their
way back to Baghdad, and a third Russian engineer was killed in the same
incident. Since the end of March, as many as 50 civilians have been kidnapped
in Iraq.
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- When the kidnappings began in April, Western staff fled
Iraq, but when the majority were released unharmed, nerves began to calm.
Mr Berg's killing has changed all that. This was no kidnapping for ransom:
Mr Berg was killed for political effect, and every Westerner in Iraq is
a target now. Those from countries not involved in the occupation are targets
too, after a militant group in Basra said it would consider all foreigners
in Iraq as if they came from occupation countries and target them for kidnapping
or assassination.
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- The Russian government has advised its nationals to leave
- but many are warning that if they do, the electricity network which Russian
engineers are keeping running may collapse altogether.
-
- Some say the only contractors making money now are security
companies. But Ahmet Ersavci, a Turkish contractor, says the truth is rather
different. "There is still huge competition for every contract that
the CPA [coalition provisional authority] announces," he says. "I
know because I'm bidding for them. It's dangerous, but it's still very
lucrative."
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- Mr Ersavci claims the reason Iraq's reconstruction is
going so slowly is not because of the personal danger to Western contractors
and staff, but because the Americans aren't handing out contracts fast
enough.
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- But the instability is a factor. Few companies want to
make any long or even medium-term investment in a country whose future
is so uncertain. That affects contract work, too, because it means a lot
of basic infrastructure is not being built, because companies don't know
if they'll get any return on it.
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- And the spectre of more beheadings of Western contractors
is not going to help.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=520736
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