KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow (search) said Thursday he expects Saudi Arabia will help fund reconstruction in Iraq, but declined to say whether he had succeeded in persuading the Saudis to fund the rebuilding of the Iraqi army.
Snow made the comments in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul (search), where he arrived after a visit a day earlier to Saudi Arabia.
"What I did yesterday with the Saudis was to raise the issue of Afghanistan and funding for the reconstruction of Afghanistan and for Iraq as well," Snow told reporters after talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (search).
"I was encouraged by the response we got, and I expect them to be participants in both reconstruction funding for Afghanistan and for Iraq," he said.
A report released in Washington this week estimated that rebuilding an army in Iraq of 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers would cost about $2 billion next year.
The report said everything from guns and uniforms to trucks and toilets must be bought for the army, which will comprise mainly infantry, with little armor or artillery.
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