Brussels, 24 July 1997 (RFE/RL) - International donors attending a two-day conference in Brussels are holding talks on how to divide the $1.1 billion of aid pledged yesterday for reconstruction in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Representatives of 48 countries and 30 organizations are spending their final day of talks focusing on six areas of assistance. World Bank spokesman Patrice Defors earlier told our correspondent those areas are the return of refugees, enterprise and financial sector development, infrastructure investment, public security and social sectors, such as education and health.
Defors said a special session also would be held on the disputed Northern Bosnian town of Brcko, whose fate is to be decided by international arbitration next year. A successful resolution of the conflict over Brcko, which is claimed by both Bosnian Serbs and the Muslim-Croat Federation, is seen as a key test of whether lasting peace can be established in Bosnia.
After the signature of the Dayton Accords at the end of 1995, the World Bank estimated the cost of rebuilding Bosnia's basic infrastructure at a minimum of $5.1 billion for 1996-1999.