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Spain will contribute $1.6m and New Zealand $565,000 to the logistics operations described in the appeal. Australia has promised 100,000 tonnes of wheat.The WFP, working overtime to put in place the food and delivery machinery to cope with a feared humanitarian catastrophe, had appealed for humanitarian assistance of $2.2bn, of which $1.3bn is for food aid. "This is the best possible start to the biggest single appeal in WFP's 40-year history," said Mr Morris. "We are extremely grateful for these nations' generosity." The agency is about $1bn shy of its goal.The WFP is also racing to review contracts under the revived oil-for-food programme, to see how much food can be delivered to Iraq by 12 May, the goal set by a UN Security Council last week. The programme has enabled Iraq to buy food and other humanitarian supplies from the proceeds of its oil exports during the past seven years. The initial estimate of the value of these revived contracts was said to be $270m.

But it is unclear how much of this will be readily available, and it will in any case cover only part of the requirement. "The onus will remain on individual donors to help fund an operation which could evolve into the largest in the history of humanitarian aid," said Mr Morris.Bracing for the possible exodus of 2.1 million Iraqis, the agency has stored some 30,000 tons of food in neighbouring countries, and expects to put its staff back into Iraq within a month to get the public distribution system set up under the oil-for-food programme running again. That may be required to distribute food to Iraq's entire population of 27.1 million.The third phase of the planned six-month operation is expected to see the WFP set up its food pipeline, equipped to funnel food supplies to the most vulnerable groups within the Iraqi population whom the revived public distribution system may miss, including refugees, internally displaced people and others.The agency has laid down the infrastructure to deliver 40,000 tons of food aid per month to Iraq. It has deployed 168 staff across the region, and made deals with shipping and haulage companies, mapping the corridors across Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey through which humanitarian aid will be delivered to the population."We still have a long way to go and we cannot afford to lose time," said Mr Morris.

"We believe the poorest Iraqis will run out of food by the end of April.". George Bush is to arrive in Belfast on Monday for a two-day visit that will include a summit with Tony Blair. He will be met in Belfast by Mr Blair for discussions that will encompass the Iraqi conflict, the Middle East peace process and Northern Ireland.The timing of the visit, and its length, may be taken as indicating a certain insouciance on the President's part. With the battle of Baghdad apparently beginning, the message appears to be that President Bush will not be micro-managing the details of the conflict.Bertie Ahern, the Taois-each, is expected to join the talks. Mr Ahern and Mr Blair had planned to visit Belfast on 10 April to release a document aimed at kick-starting the Northern Ireland peace process. The first day of the visit is expected to concentrate on the war in Iraq, as a follow-up to the last Bush-Blair meeting in the Azores last month It will also address the Middle East.

Day two will address the Northern Ireland question.Mr Blair, who has often referred to the Northern Ireland peace process as a template for other conflicts, may offer lessons learnt in Belfast as being of potential use in the Middle East.The US President has devoted much less time than did his predecessor, Bill Clinton, to the Irish peace process, partly because of his preoccupation with the airplane attacks on New York and Washington, followed by the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.The American administration has none the less been highly supportive of London and Dublin through its special envoy, Richard Haass. It has, for example, agreed to provide an American monitor of the new deal that Mr Blair and Mr Ahern hope to put in place in the next few months.The two prime ministers intend to return to Belfast on Thursday next week to launch the blueprint, which has been under negotiation for months They hope it will spark a move on arms by the IRA.. In the conventional war – the set-piece military one – yesterday was pivotal That war is now, evidently, almost over. Baghdad will soon be surrounded; many hundreds of soldiers in the Republican Guard have surrendered; many others have died; Baghdad airport, a main strategic and psychological objective, has a new owner and a new name.

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