BRUSSELS — Leaders of Iraq's transitional government appealed to a gathering of more than 80 nations and international organizations Wednesday for help to build a democratic state and defeat the virulent insurgency gripping the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari described battling the insurgency as "a struggle between the forces of good and evil."
"We must stand together against terrorism," Jafari told delegates to the session, which was co-sponsored by the United States and the European Union.
After a day of hearing Iraqi leaders set out their political and economic development goals, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "Today, Iraq and the international community have turned a page together. We've promised each other we will be full partners in supporting Iraq."
Wednesday's meeting was the largest international gathering yet to address aid for Iraq, and the country's leaders used the forum to display their political diversity.
In addition to Jafari and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's delegation included the chairman of the constitutional drafting committee, the parliamentary speaker, members of the judiciary and representatives of opposition parties.
The meeting delivered a message the United States was eager to convey: that despite the violence that has slowed Iraq's development to a crawl and crippled normal life in many parts of the country, an elected government is at work, struggling to build a democratic state.
Although U.S. officials called the meeting an agenda-setting session rather than a donors conference, documents from the event indicated that 37 participants offered at least some help, including a modest pledge from Turkey to conduct seminars on democracy and public service training along with $120 million in EU assistance first made public earlier this month.
One document states that Saudi Arabia is prepared to help "ease [Iraq's] debt burden."
At a closing news conference, Zebari talked about "some positive responses" from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on the issue of debt relief, saying further discussions would probably be necessary.
A donors conference for Iraq is scheduled to be held in Amman, Jordan, next month. Nearly two years ago, donors at a conference in Madrid pledged $13 billion in aid to Iraq, but little of the money has been delivered. On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged nations to pay up.
