Zoellick urges rethink on post-conflict rebuilding

By Lesley Wroughton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Thursday called for more cooperation between peacekeeping and development teams working in countries emerging from conflict such as Liberia, Afghanistan and Haiti.

Zoellick urged a new approach by the international community in dealing with post-conflict countries, saying securing and rebuilding fragile states should go hand in hand. Peacekeeping forces should also be larger and deployed for longer periods to help countries in transition.

"This is not security as usual or development as usual. Nor is this about what we have come to think of as peacebuilding or peacekeeping," Zoellick told a U.S. Institute of Peace conference.

"This is about securing development -- bringing security and development together first to smooth the transition from conflict to peace and then to embed stability so that development can take hold over a decade and beyond," he said.

"Only by securing development can we put down roots deep enough to break the cycle of fragility and violence. This will not be easy."

The World Bank estimates there are 1 billion people living in so-called fragile states where poverty and disease are rife and basic services are absent.

In Afghanistan, Zoellick said NATO needs more troops but the mission should not only be to hunt and kill the enemy, but should also be linked to development that helps Afghans.

"Foreign military actions that kill innocent Afghans trade tactical wins for strategic losses," he said. "To build legitimacy, we need to achieve concrete results, for example, the delivery of basic services, operated by national authorities working closely with local communities."