Hamjatta,
The softening of the position of the hardliners in Congress came, curiously
enough, last Tuesday; a day before the Commission on International
Financial Institutions was scheduled to submit its report to Congress. It
is a tactical move designed to soften the blow coming from the sweeping
recommendations of the Commission on the future structure and role of the
IMF and World Bank in the international financial system. The likes of
Jesse Helms will not soften their position without extracting a pound of
flesh from the IMF, World Bank and beneficiary countries for that matter,
as recently experienced by Koffi Annan when Jesse was invited to address
the Security Council. I believe he is the first member of Congress ever
accorded such a privilege and he proceeded to use the occasion to lecture
the UN on the conditions under which he will make good on the US arrears to
the Organisation.

The Commission's report will have to be studied and analysed to assess the
implications.  Until such time that the report is made public and hearings
held, we should be guarded in our comments. If the recent article on the
recommendations by the commission's chairman and Jeffery Sachs is anything
to go by, the debate to follow will be long and acrimonious.

Meanwhile, the US should follow the example of Gordon Brown and his
government by supporting the British initiative in contributing to the
Trust Fund, and making good on its pledge which the Treasury has already
signed off on during last year's G-7 meeting in Cologne .This way,
countries like Mozambique which currently spends $1.2 million a day to
service her debts can use these most-needed funds in the reconstruction of
her battered economic infrastructure.

To members of the L who have already contacted the Bush campaign
headquarters to register their concerns about his attitude towards Africa,
you may consider adding this issue to your list of concerns and urge  your
respective congressional representatives to support the debt write-off
initiative.  Thank you

sidi sanneh

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------