War in Iraq sidelines global poverty and AIDS

The World Bank has expressed concern that terrorism and the war in Iraq are diverting attention from efforts to tackle poverty and HIV/AIDS in developing countries.

Addressing the recent African Development Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Bank president James Wolfensohn said: "Indeed, the single statistic that tells it all is that in this last year, the world spent US $900 billion on military expenditure and only between $50 and $60 billion on development."

He noted that the biggest threat to governance in Africa was HIV/AIDS, and warned that the world might not enjoy peace and stability unless it addressed the continent's poverty.

Research shows that per capita growth in half the countries of sub-Saharan Africa is falling by 0.5 to 1.2 percent each year as a direct result of HIV/AIDS.