Int'l finance bodies seen pledging over 70 billion dollars to Arab countries

Internationial finance bodies are expected to pledge more than 70 billion U.S.dollars to support the development of Arab countries, according to a draft statement Friday from the summit of the Group of Eight (G8).

The International Monetary Fund is expected to pledge 35 billion dollars to support nations in the Middle East and North Africa and a further 37 billion dollars could come from other multilateral lending institutions over the next three years, according to the draft.

The statement is expected to be adopted by the G8 leaders later Friday at the end of the two-day summit. They were also expected to declare a "Deauville Partnership" with Arab nations in a bid to comprehensively support the development of the region.

"This partnership ... is founded on respect for sovereignty of states and peoples," says the draft.

The second day of the summit is focusing on how the rich nations of the G8 can support development in Tunisia, Egypt and other nations in North Africa and the Middle East. The G8 nations think those nations need urgent help to boost their economies and comprehensive development.

Leaders in Deauville are also expected to call for an extension of the mandate of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to cover the nations of the southern Mediterranean. The bank was set up in the early 1990s to support economies in the former Soviet bloc.

The G8 draft calls for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to leave power. At a meeting on the sidelines of the G8, U.S. President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to "finish the job" of the NATO bombing campaign in Libya to ensure Gaddafi's departure.

On the economic front, the G8 statement includes a commitment from the European Union to address the eurozone's sovereign debt problem with "determination" and an engagement from the United States to "put in place a clear and credible medium term fiscal consolidation framework."

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