April 28, 2007

The Kuwait Times interviews various Kuwaitis about writing off Iraqi debt, with very negative results:

Waleed Muhamed said: "There is no way we should write-off Iraqi debt when I am certain we are about to have another round of water and electricity cut-offs like last summer...This just proves Kuwait needs money from somewhere to fix our own problems...either we need more money or the money we have is being poorly spent. Whatever, I just refuse the premise of a write-off for Iraqis period."

Reem Muhamed said:"I say no to Iraq. We have our own to take care of now...I have to take my mother outside of Kuwait just to get the proper medical treatment but we should forget the money Iraq owes the state? It would be an injustice to the citizens of Kuwait to do such a thing!"

Nawaf Adel who was raw with emotion when speaking about the prospect of an Iraqi debt write-off, said, "To hell with this! We have had enough! What will they ask from us next...should we give back war reparations as well?"

"They want us to forgive...forgive debt...I can barely say the words. It seems wrong. I understand what is being asked and why, but to forgive anything Iraq has done cannot occur." said Sarah Faisal.

Jamal Abdelrahman said: "It is Iran who is funding the new government there so let them pay, not Kuwait! These are Iranian backed militia who are continuing the violence and with additional money from a debt write-off who can tell where the money goes...we could be complicit in funding death squads. We do not support such things in Kuwait, no to debt forgiveness!"

Khaled Abdullah said:"There is no way of knowing where the extra money in Iraqi government hands will go...and if the money comes via a loan write-off from Kuwait, we must be sure who is profiting from our generosity. With the current Malaki Shia led government we cannot be sure."

Raed Abdulazziz said, "I cannot see a loan write-off for Iraq as a sound judgement with the country being on the verge of civil war and Shia militia bombing and murdering thousands, who would we really be helping, it is an obvious answer."

April 18, 2007

Saudi Arabia has agreed to forgive 80% of the Saddam-era debt it claims from Iraq owes the kingdom, Iraqi and Saudi officials said yesterday. Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr said he had asked the Saudis for 100% but they refused. Jabr said the debts [presumably without recent reductions] totaled $140 billion. He said that so far 52 countries, including the Paris Club of creditor nations, have canceled between 80 percent and 100 percent of their debt claims. Iraq and Saudi Arabia can't agree on the base figures for the debt. During the early 1980s, Saudi Arabia sold $7 billion worth of oil on Iraq's behalf and also lent Saddam an additional $9 billion. Jabr said Saudi officials told him that unpaid interest brought that amount up to $39 billion; Jabr said the original agreements said no interest would be owed. A senior Saudi official estimated the debt at $15 billion to $18 billion. Saudi Arabia has also failed to deliver on a long-standing pledge to provide $1 billion in new aid, Jabr said.

Seperately, Russia seems to be stalling on debt relief. Jabr said that five months ago Russia has said it would cancel 80%. But Iraq's ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, said Russian officials had recently backtracked from that pledge. "They said that discussions would be based on economic relations," the ambassador said. "Those are code words for whether we let them continue with their [saddam-era] oil contracts."

April 10, 2007

Yesterday, on the occasion of a visit to Japan by Maliki, a concessional loan was signed for ¥102.8 billion ($862 million) to Iraq, repayable over 40 years with a 10-year grace period at an interest rate of 0.75%. The money will go to build the oil facility connecting pipelines in the southern province of Basra. It will also fund fertiliser and oil refinery plants and help improve electricity, a Japanese foreign ministry statement said. "Iraq is important for us in terms of securing stable supply of crude oil. In that context, we would like to form a long-term partnership with Iraq," a Japanese foreign ministry official said.