Associated Press
September 21, 2003

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow welcomed the pledge, saying a solution was necessary “to help provide a sound footing for the future” of postwar Iraq.

The Paris Club of 19 creditor nations, which includes the United States, has been studying the extent of Iraqi debts, estimated in the tens of billions of dollars.

The Paris Club’s members, who also include Japan, Germany and Russia, are believed to be owed an estimated US$26 billion in principal alone. Most of the debt dates from the 1970s and has been racking up unpaid interest since then.

“We call upon the Paris Club to make its best effort to complete the restructuring of Iraq’s debt before the end of 2004,” the G7 statement said.

The G7 urged countries in the Middle East and central Europe, which are not Paris Club members but are thought to be owed money by Iraq, to cooperate as well.