Developing world takes West to task over crisis

By Amran Abocar

DOHA (Reuters) - Developing nations at a U.N. aid summit turned the tables on wealthy Western powers, blaming them for bringing financial ruin to their doorstep and demanding a greater voice in global financial institutions.

The meeting in Qatar, which concludes on Tuesday, was one of the largest gatherings to include developing nations since the financial crisis erupted and they seized the chance to vent their anger.

Qatar's ruler and conference host set the tone with a pointed reference to the "recession which the developed world is about to enter and drag with it the rest of the people on our planet."

After years of being on the receiving end of Western largesse but also critique, developing countries seemed to revel in the opportunity to chide the powerful West over its own failures, in particular the United States.

"Blame is a harsh word but in this case maybe a realistic one," Mariano Browne, a Trinidad and Tobago minister of state, told Reuters.

The crisis was sparked by a meltdown in the U.S. subprime mortgage market which unravelled a network of complex financial instruments and sent economies careening into recession.

Though shielded from most aspects of the banking and stocks debacle, developing nations are suffering falling exports, lower remittances and a lack of access to credit markets.

Some leaders took pleasure in the West's difficulties.