UN and Iraq sign up to aid plan

THE United Nations and the Iraqi government have signed an agreement outlining a new road map for streamlining aid to the war-torn country by 2010.

David Shearer, a UN official, said the main focus would be on strengthening government capacity and expanding the private sector to provide jobs.

He said there was "a real moment of opportunity in Iraq" as the UN gains more access to many parts of the country where security has improved.

The UN largely pulled out of Iraq after the deadly 2003 bombing of its headquarters in Baghdad and other attacks. But it has been raising its profile in recent months and says yesterday's agreement is the "first of its kind" in Iraq since the Nineties.