(January 21, 2004) Qatar said yesterday that it would waive most of the $4 billion or so Iraq owes it and will consider writing off the rest.
Saudis offer to slash Iraq debt
(January 21, 2004) Saudi Arabia has said it is prepared to negotiate a "substantial" reduction of Iraq’s debt to the kingdom.
Follow the leader on Iraqi debt
(January 20, 2004) The Bush administration could make former US Secretary of State James Baker’s task much easier, if it agreed to make a substantial contribution to the cost of Iraqi debt reduction.
Trade ministry official comments on former regime’s corruption
(January 16, 2004) An unnamed official at the Iraqi Trade Ministry told London’s "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" the ministry plans on suing companies and prosecuting former regime officials for corrupt practices.
Accident plunges dam area into the dark: report
(January 16, 2004) Villages near the Three Gorges dam were plunged into darkness after a transmission tower was toppled in a construction accident last week, the Anhui-based Jianghuai Morning Post (Jianghuai chenbao) reports.
Managing river conflict: a Canadian model
(January 15, 2004) The Mekong River Commission’s new chief should make mobilizing an approach for balancing power production with public demands for improved river health and greater control a top priority in 2004.
China cancels Africa’s debt
(January 15, 2004) China has cancelled the debts owed to it by 31 African countries. The show of solidarity will give African leaders greater leverage to demand that the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the wealthy finance capitalists in the bastions of imperialism do the same.
China’s anti-corruption plan doomed by one-party system
(January 15, 2004) Beijing’s graft-busting efforts barely scratch the surface.
Bureaucrats to tackle their own corruption
(January 15, 2004) Vladimir Putin has appointed Mikhail Kasyanov to head the Kremlin’s new Anti-Corruption Council. Remarkably, Kasyanov also holds the post of the chairman of the Russian government.
Ayoon wa Azan (Iraq’s debts)
(January 15, 2004) Forbidding an illegal government from having debts is a strategy more successful than sanctions, since it prevents it from using money in oppressing the citizens of the country.
AMF seeks payment of massive debt from Iraq
(January 15, 2004) The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) said yesterday it would try to help in the reconstruction of Iraq but stressed the conflict-hit country must pay its swelling debt which caused its suspension from the Fund 12 years ago.
U.S. officials consult IMF on Iraq debt
(January 15, 2004) John Snow and James A. Baker III briefed International Monetary Fund and World Bank officials on Baker’s efforts to persuade countries to forgive much of Iraq’s massive debt, officials at the lending institutions said Thursday.
Ease off on Iraq debt, finance ministers asks states
(January 13, 2004) Iraq’s finance minister on Tuesday urged countries to which Iraq owes billions of dollars to write down or even write off the debt to allow the country to recover from three wars and three decades of dictatorship.
Baker backed loans that created Iraq debt
(January 11, 2004) As secretary of state in 1989, Baker urged the Agriculture Department to offer $1 billion in loan guarantees for Iraq to buy U.S. farm products after Iraq said it would reject a smaller deal.
U.S. turns attention to Arabs’ Iraq debt
(January 5, 2004) Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq called on its Arab neighbors to help supply and pay for arms for the war effort. Baghdad later insisted that the aid was in the form of grants, not loans, and therefore repayment was not required.
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