(September 24, 2003) Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Seven creditor nations ended their one-day meeting in Dubai, urging all bilateral creditors to join them in canceling "100 percent of their eligible claims."

(September 22, 2003) All the countries, all the countries, are going to have to engage in debt forgiveness for . . . this new country to have any possibility of getting off the ground.

(September 22, 2003) "About 90 percent of Iraq’s potential, virtual debt is war-related . . . I cannot see how a country like Iraq can bear this burden," said Marek Belka, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority body raising money for Iraq’s reconstruction. "A serious, serious write off [is needed]," he added.

(September 21, 2003) 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.

(September 21, 2003) Finance ministers of the world’s richest nations yesterday gave their endorsement to reform efforts by the Palestinian National Authority.

(September 20, 2003) Germany’s deputy finance minister Caio Koch-Weser said the Group of Seven wealthy nations wanted to reach a deal by the end of next year on restructuring Iraq’s massive debts.

(September 17, 2003) Another source of contention is the debt burden Iraq has accumulated under Saddam Hussein’s regime, which continues to bog down the country’s economy.

(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.