[lbo-talk] Mayor: New Orleans will seek aid from other nations

[Colin Brace]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: cwb at lim.nl <cwb at lim.nl>
Date: Feb 8, 2006 10:36 AM
Subject: [lbo-talk] Look what I just found on myway.com!
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org

Ah, sorry, that was totally lame. The site didn't even supply the
title of the article, let alone a summary of it. Here it is:

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Mayor: New Orleans will seek aid from other nations

Feb 6, 7:24 PM (ET)

By Michael Depp

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Shortcomings in aid from the U.S. government
are making New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin look to other nations for help
in rebuilding his hurricane-damaged city.

Nagin, who has hosted a steady stream of foreign dignitaries since
Hurricane Katrina hit in late August, says he may seek international
assistance because U.S. aid has not been sufficient to get the city
back on its feet.

"I know we had a little disappointment earlier with some signals we're
getting from Washington but the international community may be able to
fill the gap," Nagin said when a delegation of French government and
business officials passed through on Friday to explore potential
business partnerships.

Jordan's King Abdullah also visited New Orleans on Friday and Nagin
said he would encourage foreign interests to help redevelop some of
the areas hardest hit by the storm.

"France can take Treme. The king of Jordan can take the Lower Ninth
Ward," he said, referring to two of the city's neighborhoods.

Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,300
people in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The Bush administration has pledged billions of dollars to Katrina
victims but five months after the storm, New Orleans remains largely
in ruins.

Nagin said his message to President George W. Bush would be that the
federal government needs to refocus on the devastated area.

"We need your undivided attention over the next six months," he said.
"We need backup. We need for you to make the words that you spoke in
Jackson Square a reality."

Nagin was referring to the president's September 15 address to the
nation from New Orleans, in which he pledged "we will do what it
takes, we will stay as long as it takes" to rebuild.

French Transport Minister Dominique Perben, leading the French
delegation to a city that was founded by France in 1718, said, "This
catastrophe has deeply upset the French people and the French
government."

France, Perben said through a translator, "wants to be a long-term
partner for Louisiana and New Orleans."
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from: http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060207/2006-02-07T002438Z_01_N03281051_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-HURRICANES-AID-DC.html

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  Colin Brace

  Amsterdam