World Bank and IMF to Shorten Their Meetings

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund agreed to shorten their annual meetings to two days from four after the U.S. asked that they be kept to a weekend to curb the disruption in Washington, the IMF said in a statement.

The Bush administration said Sunday that Al Qaeda had conducted surveillance of the Washington headquarters of both lenders in preparation for a possible terrorist attack.

Finance officials from the 184 members of the international development institutions will gather in Washington Oct. 2-3, a Saturday and a Sunday, and not meet through Oct. 5 as previously scheduled, the statement said.