Gulf states reject debt talks with Iraq council

[Tinoire]

Gulf states reject debt talks with Iraq council
By Mark Huband in Riyadh
Published: December 23 2003 21:41 | Last Updated: December 23 2003 21:41


Iraq's main Arab creditors will only negotiate debt relief with a sovereign government in Baghdad and not the US-appointed interim Governing Council, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Tuesday.


No decision was taken regarding debt relief to Iraq at a meeting of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in Kuwait this week. However, Saud al-Faisal appeared to dismiss the credibility of the Governing Council as representative of Iraq and to make it clear that GCC states would not negotiate with it.

"The indebtedness of the Iraqi government entails that we discuss this issue with a government that is sovereign. It's a question of dialogue among nations, and I don't think that an effective dialogue can take place unless there's a sovereign Iraqi government. When that government comes, we are ready to discuss these issues," Prince Saud said.

Of Iraq's $120bn (€97bn, £68bn) debt, as much as $81bn is owed to the Gulf states of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, according to highest calculations by the Jubilee debt campaign.

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Kuwait's prime minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Jaber, said this week that Iraq should not be freed from repayments, "because it is a country that can repay its debts".

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