Jubilee Research: Jubilee 2000 News: PARIS Seizing the initiative a day after the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture, France said Monday that it would work with other nations to forgive an unspecified portion of Iraq's immense foreign debt.

France steps up to help cut Iraq's debt
16th December 2003

PARIS Seizing the initiative a day after the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture, France said Monday that it would work with other nations to forgive an unspecified portion of Iraq's immense foreign debt.
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The offer was a conciliatory gesture to Washington as much as it was a hand extended to Baghdad.
.
"France, together with other creditors, believes there could be an agreement in 2004," the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, told reporters after a meeting with members of Iraq's interim Governing Council. He said that if various conditions regarding Iraq's sovereignty and stability are met, his country "could then envisage cancellation of debts in line with Iraq's basic financing capacity." Russia, which is owed nearly $3.5 billion, said Monday that it supported a resolution by the Paris Club to Iraq's debt problem. "This is a modern, civilized system for settling the problems of external debt that is applied everywhere, and Russia believes that these mechanisms should be applied to Iraq as well," Russia's deputy foreign minister, Yuri Fedotov, told the Interfax news agency.
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On Tuesday, James Baker, the former U.S. secretary of state whom President George W. Bush named this month as his personal envoy to focus on Iraq's debt, was scheduled to arrive in Paris to ask the French for help in relieving Iraq of its financial obligations, estimated at more than $120 billion, not including war reparations owed to Kuwait and Iran. The United States is eager to lift the debt burden, which will otherwise raise the cost of an Iraqi economic recovery beyond America's means.
.
Jalal Talabani, an Iraqi Kurdish leader and member of the Iraqi delegation visiting Paris, called de Villepin's announcement a "gift." But by announcing France's intention to the Iraqis on Monday, de Villepin avoided the appearance of answering to Washington's call. "This way he can say, 'because I believe it's the responsible thing to do for the Iraqis,'" said Dominique Moisi, an American expert at the French Institute for International Relations. De Villepin, one of the diplomatic world's sharpest critics of Washington's Iraq policy, seemed eager to strike a conciliatory note in the wake of Saddam's capture Saturday.
.
"The arrest of Saddam Hussein constitutes a chance that we all must take advantage of," de Villepin said. "France is ready to play a full role in these efforts and to follow the action already undertaken on a bilateral basis as Europeans in the humanitarian domain, of course, and in the cooperative domain, whether it be education, health or even archeology." He brushed aside questions about whether debt forgiveness would be linked to participation in $18.6 billion in U.S.-financed Iraqi reconstruction contracts, saying the two issues were separate and should not be mixed. Washington has excluded France and other past opponents to the Iraq war from lead roles in such lucrative deals. The foreign minister did not, however, offer to send French troops to help secure Iraqi stability, repeating instead France's offer - so far ignored by the United States - to build a police school in the troubled country.
.
France has been slow to extend financial aid to Iraq as long as that country remains under U.S. occupation. France was not among those countries that pledged billions for Iraqi reconstruction at a donors' conference in October, and until Monday it had been silent on the question of Iraq's debt, about $3 billion of which is owed to France. Standing with members of the Iraqi Governing Council, including the current holder of its rotating presidency, the Shiite leader Abelaziz al Hakim, de Villepin said that his country would work with the so-called Paris Club to negotiate a debt reduction plan for Iraq.
.
The club, an association of 19 industrialized nations including the United States, France, Germany, Russia and Japan, was formed in 1956 to coordinate the cancellation of debts for financially distressed countries. In 2001, it agreed to forgive two-thirds of Yugoslavia's debt after President Slobodan Milosevic was driven from power. The World Bank has proposed forgiving the same percentage for Iraq.
.
Paris Club members collectively hold about $40 billion of Iraq's outstanding debt, more than half of it dating to before the 1991 Gulf war. The balance is held mostly by Arab states. Japan, which is owed more than $4 billion by Iraq, has not yet indicated whether it will go along with any debt write-off. A senior Japanese envoy, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, will meet with President Jacques Chirac of France on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
.
Germany, which is owed about $2.5 billion, last month said it supported forgiving a portion of Iraq's debt.
.
Moisi, the expert at the French Institute for International Relations, said the French offer might reflect the country's realization that, in the wake of Saddam's capture, Bush faces a stronger chance of re-election next year and so Paris will most likely have to deal with his administration for the next five years. "It's better to set the record straight now," Moisi said.
.
The New York Times PARIS Seizing the initiative a day after the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture, France said Monday that it would work with other nations to forgive an unspecified portion of Iraq's immense foreign debt.
.
The offer was a conciliatory gesture to Washington as much as it was a hand extended to Baghdad.
.
"France, together with other creditors, believes there could be an agreement in 2004," the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, told reporters after a meeting with members of Iraq's interim Governing Council. He said that if various conditions regarding Iraq's sovereignty and stability are met, his country "could then envisage cancellation of debts in line with Iraq's basic financing capacity." Russia, which is owed nearly $3.5 billion, said Monday that it supported a resolution by the Paris Club to Iraq's debt problem. "This is a modern, civilized system for settling the problems of external debt that is applied everywhere, and Russia believes that these mechanisms should be applied to Iraq as well," Russia's deputy foreign minister, Yuri Fedotov, told the Interfax news agency.
.
On Tuesday, James Baker, the former U.S. secretary of state whom President George W. Bush named this month as his personal envoy to focus on Iraq's debt, was scheduled to arrive in Paris to ask the French for help in relieving Iraq of its financial obligations, estimated at more than $120 billion, not including war reparations owed to Kuwait and Iran. The United States is eager to lift the debt burden, which will otherwise raise the cost of an Iraqi economic recovery beyond America's means.
.
Jalal Talabani, an Iraqi Kurdish leader and member of the Iraqi delegation visiting Paris, called de Villepin's announcement a "gift." But by announcing France's intention to the Iraqis on Monday, de Villepin avoided the appearance of answering to Washington's call. "This way he can say, 'because I believe it's the responsible thing to do for the Iraqis,'" said Dominique Moisi, an American expert at the French Institute for International Relations. De Villepin, one of the diplomatic world's sharpest critics of Washington's Iraq policy, seemed eager to strike a conciliatory note in the wake of Saddam's capture Saturday.
.
"The arrest of Saddam Hussein constitutes a chance that we all must take advantage of," de Villepin said. "France is ready to play a full role in these efforts and to follow the action already undertaken on a bilateral basis as Europeans in the humanitarian domain, of course, and in the cooperative domain, whether it be education, health or even archeology." He brushed aside questions about whether debt forgiveness would be linked to participation in $18.6 billion in U.S.-financed Iraqi reconstruction contracts, saying the two issues were separate and should not be mixed. Washington has excluded France and other past opponents to the Iraq war from lead roles in such lucrative deals. The foreign minister did not, however, offer to send French troops to help secure Iraqi stability, repeating instead France's offer - so far ignored by the United States - to build a police school in the troubled country.
.
France has been slow to extend financial aid to Iraq as long as that country remains under U.S. occupation. France was not among those countries that pledged billions for Iraqi reconstruction at a donors' conference in October, and until Monday it had been silent on the question of Iraq's debt, about $3 billion of which is owed to France. Standing with members of the Iraqi Governing Council, including the current holder of its rotating presidency, the Shiite leader Abelaziz al Hakim, de Villepin said that his country would work with the so-called Paris Club to negotiate a debt reduction plan for Iraq.
.
The club, an association of 19 industrialized nations including the United States, France, Germany, Russia and Japan, was formed in 1956 to coordinate the cancellation of debts for financially distressed countries. In 2001, it agreed to forgive two-thirds of Yugoslavia's debt after President Slobodan Milosevic was driven from power. The World Bank has proposed forgiving the same percentage for Iraq.
.
Paris Club members collectively hold about $40 billion of Iraq's outstanding debt, more than half of it dating to before the 1991 Gulf war. The balance is held mostly by Arab states. Japan, which is owed more than $4 billion by Iraq, has not yet indicated whether it will go along with any debt write-off. A senior Japanese envoy, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, will meet with President Jacques Chirac of France on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
.
Germany, which is owed about $2.5 billion, last month said it supported forgiving a portion of Iraq's debt.
.
Moisi, the expert at the French Institute for International Relations, said the French offer might reflect the country's realization that, in the wake of Saddam's capture, Bush faces a stronger chance of re-election next year and so Paris will most likely have to deal with his administration for the next five years. "It's better to set the record straight now," Moisi said.
.
The New York Times PARIS Seizing the initiative a day after the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture, France said Monday that it would work with other nations to forgive an unspecified portion of Iraq's immense foreign debt.
.
The offer was a conciliatory gesture to Washington as much as it was a hand extended to Baghdad.
.
"France, together with other creditors, believes there could be an agreement in 2004," the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, told reporters after a meeting with members of Iraq's interim Governing Council. He said that if various conditions regarding Iraq's sovereignty and stability are met, his country "could then envisage cancellation of debts in line with Iraq's basic financing capacity." Russia, which is owed nearly $3.5 billion, said Monday that it supported a resolution by the Paris Club to Iraq's debt problem. "This is a modern, civilized system for settling the problems of external debt that is applied everywhere, and Russia believes that these mechanisms should be applied to Iraq as well," Russia's deputy foreign minister, Yuri Fedotov, told the Interfax news agency.
.
On Tuesday, James Baker, the former U.S. secretary of state whom President George W. Bush named this month as his personal envoy to focus on Iraq's debt, was scheduled to arrive in Paris to ask the French for help in relieving Iraq of its financial obligations, estimated at more than $120 billion, not including war reparations owed to Kuwait and Iran. The United States is eager to lift the debt burden, which will otherwise raise the cost of an Iraqi economic recovery beyond America's means.
.
Jalal Talabani, an Iraqi Kurdish leader and member of the Iraqi delegation visiting Paris, called de Villepin's announcement a "gift." But by announcing France's intention to the Iraqis on Monday, de Villepin avoided the appearance of answering to Washington's call. "This way he can say, 'because I believe it's the responsible thing to do for the Iraqis,'" said Dominique Moisi, an American expert at the French Institute for International Relations. De Villepin, one of the diplomatic world's sharpest critics of Washington's Iraq policy, seemed eager to strike a conciliatory note in the wake of Saddam's capture Saturday.
.
"The arrest of Saddam Hussein constitutes a chance that we all must take advantage of," de Villepin said. "France is ready to play a full role in these efforts and to follow the action already undertaken on a bilateral basis as Europeans in the humanitarian domain, of course, and in the cooperative domain, whether it be education, health or even archeology." He brushed aside questions about whether debt forgiveness would be linked to participation in $18.6 billion in U.S.-financed Iraqi reconstruction contracts, saying the two issues were separate and should not be mixed. Washington has excluded France and other past opponents to the Iraq war from lead roles in such lucrative deals. The foreign minister did not, however, offer to send French troops to help secure Iraqi stability, repeating instead France's offer - so far ignored by the United States - to build a police school in the troubled country.
.
France has been slow to extend financial aid to Iraq as long as that country remains under U.S. occupation. France was not among those countries that pledged billions for Iraqi reconstruction at a donors' conference in October, and until Monday it had been silent on the question of Iraq's debt, about $3 billion of which is owed to France. Standing with members of the Iraqi Governing Council, including the current holder of its rotating presidency, the Shiite leader Abelaziz al Hakim, de Villepin said that his country would work with the so-called Paris Club to negotiate a debt reduction plan for Iraq.
.
The club, an association of 19 industrialized nations including the United States, France, Germany, Russia and Japan, was formed in 1956 to coordinate the cancellation of debts for financially distressed countries. In 2001, it agreed to forgive two-thirds of Yugoslavia's debt after President Slobodan Milosevic was driven from power. The World Bank has proposed forgiving the same percentage for Iraq.
.
Paris Club members collectively hold about $40 billion of Iraq's outstanding debt, more than half of it dating to before the 1991 Gulf war. The balance is held mostly by Arab states. Japan, which is owed more than $4 billion by Iraq, has not yet indicated whether it will go along with any debt write-off. A senior Japanese envoy, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, will meet with President Jacques Chirac of France on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
.
Germany, which is owed about $2.5 billion, last month said it supported forgiving a portion of Iraq's debt.
.
Moisi, the expert at the French Institute for International Relations, said the French offer might reflect the country's realization that, in the wake of Saddam's capture, Bush faces a stronger chance of re-election next year and so Paris will most likely have to deal with his administration for the next five years. "It's better to set the record straight now," Moisi said.
.
The New York Times