Russia criticized the US government Wednesday for its decision to bar countries that opposed the US-led Iraq war from bidding for reconstruction contracts in Iraq.  

"This decision is clearly politically motivated," Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

"It is unlikely to promote broad mobilization of the international community to rebuild war-stricken Iraq," he noted.

Fedotov was commenting on a directive from US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, which bans firms from Germany, France and Russia to bid 26 reconstruction contracts in Iraq.

The directive said that the decision against Germany, France and Russia, which opposed the US-led war against Iraq in March, was based on "security interests."

Fedotov reiterated Russia's call for a broader involvement of the international community in Iraqi settlement "under the aegis and with the leading role of the UN."

"This is the only way to ensure true settlement and to enable the Iraqi people to start a new life," he said.

"If the coalition participants intend to act independently, they can hardly hope for support and understanding from other countries," he warned.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2003)