April 19, 2006

Iraq has issued Irish beef baron Larry Goodman with over $72m of new bonds in the restructuing of Saddam-era debt. Goodman had sold millions of tonnes of beef to Iraq during the Eighties and his firm is Europe's largest beef processor, with revenues of well over €1bn.

Documents obtained by the Irish Sunday Independent show that on February 14, 2006, Goodman Holdings Ltd registered a charge with Ulster Bank against "US$72,433,000, 5.80% new notes due 2028 issued by the Republic of Iraq . . . held by the company with Anglo Irish Bank corporation." As a result of recent violence the market value of the new bonds has fallen to 68¢ in the dollar. This means that the somewhat risky bonds, which mature in 2028, have a yield of 9.5%.

goodman had spent the last 15 years trying to wring some form of compensation for the damage he claimed Iraq's non-payment of debts did to his company. Two years ago the UN Compensation Commission dismissed a claim for €272m made by Goodman over the money owed by Iraq. In 2003, Goodman dropped a long-running €100m compensation claim against the Irish State, over its withdrawal of the export insurance scheme.

April 18, 2006

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has been mulling over a return of WB staff to Iraq. Currently there people in the International Zone in Baghdad with other agencies representing the World Bank, but no permanant staff have been based in Baghdad since one was killed in the bombing of the Canal Hotel in August 2003.