COPENHAGEN, June 17 (Reuters) - Denmark pledged $18 million in aid to Zimbabwe on Wednesday and said more could follow if the government pursued democratic reforms. Development Minister Ulla Tornas told a joint news conference with Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that Denmark wanted to support democratic forces in the government. "In rough terms we're giving $12 million for health, education and food security, and $6 million in humanitarian assistance," she said. Tsvangirai's visit was part of a tour of Western countries designed to drum up financial support for Zimbabwe's fragile unity government which he shares with President Robert Mugabe. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller told the news conference: "For us it is very important that the government of Mr. Tsvangirai becomes a success. Because, if it becomes a failure, it will be very difficult next time to establish a democratic government (in Zimbabwe)." Denmark halted development aid to Zimbabwe in 2002 in reaction to the disputed re-election of Mugabe and now provides only humanitarian aid and some aid through non-governmental organisations. "Times have changed," Moller said. "The development minister has decided to give transitional support because the situation is different." If the democratic process in Zimbabwe continued, Denmark might give more aid, he added. Germany pledged 25 million euros ($35 million) for Zimbabwe on Monday. [ID:nLF664244] The United States last week promised $73 million in new aid to help fight AIDS and promote good governance. [ID:nLC436809] Tsvangirai's government has said it needs $10 billion to rebuild the country of 12 million people which has been devastated by acute poverty and chronic unemployment of more than 90 percent. Zimbabwe's unity government was formed by Mugabe and Tsvangirai in February after an electoral standoff, but their power-sharing agreement has not been fully implemented. Some foreign aid is beginning to trickle into aid agencies, bypassing the government of the country, whose economy shrank by 6.2 percent last year. "We've targeted incremental support. When a child is sick and you feed it too much you risk it choke to death. We need time to make development evolutionary rather than all of a sudden," Tsvangirai told the news conference. (Reporting by Peter Levring; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
A video grab from Yemen's state television shows thousands of demonstrators during a protest in the northwestern city of Saada June 17, 2009 against the kidnap of nine foreign aid workers ...
