LONDON: British Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt has waded into the row over American companies carving up reconstruction work after the war in Iraq, lobbying direct with Washington on behalf of British companies.

Hewitt telephoned Andrew Natsios, head of the US government’s Agency for International Development last week, and argued British companies, many of which have experience of Iraq and the skills necessary for reconstruction and humanitarian relief, should win work. She is said to have had a ‘sympathetic’ hearing.

Earlier this month, it emerged that USAID was seeking interest for contracts it is funding only from US companies such as Halliburton, where Vice President Dick Cheney used to work.

Under US law, British companies are unable to secure prime contractor status on such deals, but there are concerns that US companies will be favoured at sub-contractor level as well.

Hewitt’s move follows intense lobbying from UK firms and trade bodies, who have argued Britain should be rewarded for the supportive stance it has taken over Iraq, and that companies should be awarded fixed proportions of contracts. UK contractors say French and German companies should be excluded from any UK-funded work because they have not been supportive.

It has also emerged that personnel from Trade Partners UK — the DTI subsidiary that promotes the interests of UK companies overseas — have been seconded to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Aid, the Kuwait-based US organization in charge of post-war reconstruction. —Dawn/The Guardian News Service.