(September 29, 2004) The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved an emergency loan of $436.7 million for Iraq, the first assistance it has provided to help the country rebuild its wartorn economy.

(September 29, 2004) The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday Iraq’s official bilateral creditors had agreed to defer debt the country owes them until the end of 2005.

(September 29, 2004) Iraq cleared $81 million in debt it owed the International Monetary Fund late last week, fund sources said yesterday, opening the way for the first aid to flow from the global lender to Iraq, as soon as this week.

(September 28, 2004) An odious debts arbitration would demonstrate to Iraqis that justice can be served by the rule of law. An arbitration would also expose the role of foreign creditors and thus help establish accountability in other countries.

(September 27, 2004) Finance chiefs from leading industrialised countries must bridge a transatlantic rift over how much of Iraq’s foreign debt to write-off if they are to make progress towards a deal.

(September 27, 2004) U.S. congressional investigators are trying to determine whether lax monitoring at a French bank that held more than $60 billion for the U.N. oil-for-food program facilitated illicit business deals by the former Iraqi government.

(September 24, 2004) Most debts created by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein were used to oppress the Iraqi people or were otherwise not used in the public interest. Such debt should qualify as “odious” according to international legal doctrine on the matter. Debt arbitration, which relies on the rule of law and a public judicial process, should be used to determine how much of the more than $120 billion in claims creditors currently hold against Iraq are legally enforceable, a new Cato Institute study contends.