Probe International

(May 28, 2004) Chancellor’s ‘no’ to sending NATO troops leaves U.S. government reliant on voluntary alliance.

(May 27, 2004) Thomas Dawson, an IMF spokesman, said the institution made no specific recommendation on how much in Iraq’s debt should be forgiven in order put the Iraqi economy on a sustainable basis going forward.

(May 25, 2004) Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor, yesterday said his country’s offer to forgive a substantial amount of Iraq’s debt was conditional on an interim Iraqi government being given full sovereignty over the country on June 30.

(May 24, 2004) UK-based debt campaigner Jubilee Iraq has highlighted its concerns regarding the release this week of the United Nations’ draft resolution on Iraq, saying a number of the draft’s provisions put to the UN Security Council are relevant to Jubilee Iraq’s work to challenge repayment of Iraq’s odious debt. Citing from the draft, Jubilee Iraq notes:

(May 23, 2004) The United States wants Iraq’s sovereign creditors to write off 80-90 percent of the oil-rich state’s debt but Paris wants to cancel just 50 percent, a French source said on the margins of a G7 meeting on Sunday.

(May 23, 2004) As the debate intensifies over what kind of government will take over Iraq on June 30, one certainty is that the new leadership will have to manage one of the most destabilizing legacies of Saddam Hussein’s rule – a crushing debt burden.