Germany, Japan Reject Charge They’ve Given Only 20% of Promised Gulf Aid

Germany and Japan on Wednesday disputed a U.S. accusation that they have delivered barely one-fifth of the aid they promised to back U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s chief spokesman, Hans Klein, said Germany has already made available well over half of the $2.24 billion it promised. The Defense Ministry said the aid made available includes $1.09 billion in military equipment and transport.

Some of the military supplies are waiting at German ports for delivery to the Middle East, said a Defense Ministry spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Klein said Germany “does not know the basis for these calculations (the Pentagon’s). In any event, they do not correspond with facts.”

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said that of $4 billion pledged for the military effort and to support Arab states affected by the gulf crisis, $600 million has been spent.

The process for disbursing another $600 million in emergency loans for Jordan and Turkey will be completed very soon, said another ministry official. “It is not the case that the Japanese government is delaying disbursement,” he said.

On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams said Japan had delivered only $426 million in cash and material support and Germany only $337 million.

Neither Japan nor Germany has sent armed forces to the gulf, citing constitutional restrictions.

Of the six countries that offered the largest contributions to Operation Desert Shield at its outset in August, only Kuwait has given all that it promised, Williams said.

The spokesman said the United States plans to ask an undisclosed number of allied nations to increase their contributions for 1991. He said he does not know how much money would be sought or when the requests would be made.