The United Nations must act boldly and swiftly create a framework and environment to help rebuild war-ravaged Iraq, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday.
Shiokawa told a regular news conference that he plans to convey Japan's readiness to cooperate in humanitarian aid and reconstruction for Iraq at the upcoming meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.
Asked about Shiokawa's response if U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow, during their bilateral talks, requests any financial support for Iraq's reconstruction, Shiokawa said Japan will cooperate with the U.N.