Group of Eight leaders promised $20 billion (€14 billion) in aid to new Arab democracies today when they met in France to endorse a programme aimed at fostering changes sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.
Leaders were concluding their annual two-day summit with the launch of a partnership for the region that ties aid and development cash to progress on democracy and economic reforms by states which have thrown off autocratic rulers.
The G8 leaders, in the northern resort of Deauville for their annual summit, said they "strongly support the aspirations of the Arab Spring as well as those of the Iranian people".
"The changes under way in the Middle East and North Africa are historic and have the potential to open the door to the kind of transformation that occurred in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall," a statement from the leaders said.
"We welcome the Egyptian authorities' decision to request IMF and multilateral development banks' assistance and Tunisia's request for a joint and co-ordinated development policy loan," it said.
"In this context, multilateral development banks could provide over $20 billion, including €3.5 billion from the EIB, for Egypt and Tunisia for 2011-2013 in support of suitable reform efforts."
Tunisia and Egypt, whose prime ministers met the leaders of the G8's seven Western powers plus Russia, face facing huge economic pressures following popular uprisings that toppled their long-serving authoritarian leaders.
President Barack Obama said today the United States and France were in full agreement on sticking with the Nato-led intervention in Libya until the crisis there is resolved.
"We agreed we have made progress on our Libya campaign but that meeting the UN mandate of civilian protection cannot be accomplished when [Muammar] Gadafy remains in Libya, directing his forces in acts of aggression against the Libyan people," Mr Obama told a news briefing at the G8 summit.
"We are joined in resolve to finish the job," he said, after talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy during the G8 meeting.
Russia said it is ready to mediate in the Libyan crisis following a request from its partners in the G8 a senior Russian official told reporters at the G8 summit.
"If the respectful tone that Russia maintains in its dialogue with the Libyan authorities would help Mr Gadafy take the right decision, I think this will become our serious and significant contribution to the resolution of the grave and potentially even more dangerous situation for Libya and the region," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today.
He also said Col Gadafy had lost all legitimacy and should step down.
Meanwhile it later emerged G8 leaders had to soften a statement urging Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations because Canada objected to a specific mention of 1967 borders, diplomats said today.
Canada's right-leaning Conservative government has adopted a staunchly pro-Israel position in international negotiations since coming to power in 2006, with prime minister Stephen Harper saying Canada will back Israel whatever the cost.
Diplomats involved in Middle East discussions at the G8 summit said Ottawa had insisted that no mention of Israel's pre-1967 borders be made in the leaders' final communique, even though most of the other leaders wanted a mention.
US president Barack Obama last week laid out a vision for peace in the Middle East, saying pre-1967 borders should be a basis of talks to achieve a negotiated settlement. Israel quickly dismissed the idea as unworkable.
"The Canadians were really very adamant, even though Obama expressly referred to 1967 borders in his speech last week," one European diplomat said.
Mr Harper, pressed repeatedly by reporters, declined to confirm he had objected to the language on borders but said he would oppose what he called unbalanced statements on finding peace in the Middle East.
"We are very much at ease with president Obama's speech but you cannot cherry pick elements of that speech," he said.
"If you're going to get into other elements then obviously I would have liked to see a reference to elements that were also in ... (the) speech, such as for instance the fact that one of the states must be a Jewish state, the fact that the Palestinian state must be demilitarized."
The G8 leaders called for the immediate resumption of peace talks but did not mention 1967, the year Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza from Jordan and Egypt during the Six-Day War.
"Negotiations are the only way toward a comprehensive and lasting resolution to the conflict," the communique said.
Reuters