(September 17, 2003) Today’s Iraq should not be burdened with past obligations incurred by Saddam Hussein, said new Minister of Planning, Mahdi al-Hafiz. Iraq’s former regime, not the Iraqi people, invaded Kuwait and contracted enormous loans, said al-Hafiz.

(September 17, 2003) Today’s Iraq should not be burdened with past obligations incurred by Saddam, says Mahdi al-Hafiz.

(September 17, 2003) Poor relations with Syria and Turkey under Saddam Hussein’s government prevented Iraq from reaching an agreement on water quotas with its neighbours. Now talks to increase water flow from Turkey to Iraq and Syria are expected soon.

(September 12, 2003) The chair of an international donors’ conference to rebuild Iraq said there was no conflict of interest between his role and his position with a Polish bank, part of a winning tender to establish the Trade Bank of Iraq.

(August 14, 2003) Iraq Revenue Watch is a new monitoring project dedicated to promoting transparency in the management of Iraq’s oil revenues and to ensuring the benefits of national oil wealth flow to the people of Iraq.

(August 7, 2003) Mohammed Amin Ahmed, former Iraqi ambassador in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia from 1995 to 1999, said he was sure Iraq’s $1.7bn debt to Bulgaria would be paid back when life in his country returns to normal.

(July 28, 2003) Iraq may be further burdened by debts and interest which even for an oil-rich state could take years to pay back. Unless there are some debt write-offs, at least the interest, Iraq will be facing the future with a major noose round its neck.

(July 23, 2003) Richard Perle called for a debt relief for Iraq as a way of teaching banks about the "moral hazard of … lend[ing] to a vicious dictatorship." Other countries with "odious debt" incurred under nasty regimes may be granted debt forgiveness. Why not Iraq?

(July 22, 2003) "American companies, connected to the Bush administration, […] will charge inflated costs, adding to Iraq’s debts and leaving it to the mercy of the World Bank and the IMF, which both serve America’s interests," says Dar Al-Hayat.

(July 21, 2003) Proposals in the U.S. Congress to deny requests for millions of dollars in debt relief to the Democratic Republic of Congo may compromise U.S. calls for other countries to write off debt owed by Iraq, debt campaigners say.

(July 20, 2003) In the words of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Samuel W. Bodman the matter with Iraq’s debts is a priority but these debts might be repaid following the revival of the Iraqi economy.

(July 16, 2003) Jordan announced yesterday it will use the Iraqi financial assets it has to pay due sums for the Iraqi traders who exported commodities to Jordan, and these assets to be returned back after fulfilling the due Iraqi debts to Amman.

(July 16, 2003) Iraq’s new governing council is sending a delegation to the Security Council on July 22, when the top U.N. envoy is to report on the world body’s role in postwar Iraq, U.N. officials and council diplomats said.

(July 15, 2003) Visiting more of Iraq’s neighbours in his efforts to help create a stable, democratic and sovereign country, top United Nations envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello arrived in Damascus today for talks with Syrian President Bashir al Assad. Following the talks, scheduled for tomorrow, Mr. Vieira de Mello, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative, will then leave for Tehran to meet with Iranian President Mohamed Khatami before returning to Baghdad on Thursday.