The international conference on Iraq started yesterday at the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea. Amongst the questions involved in the restoration of the war-ravaged country is the payment of its multibillion-dollar debts.
Russia is one of the country's main creditors. Russia would like to receive access to Iraq oil deposits to offset the debt, but Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr has rejected that proposal for Russia and other interested countries.
About 80 delegations are present at the two-day conference to form a “compact” on aid to the suffering country. Most countries are being represented by the foreign ministers. The U.S. delegation is headed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russia's by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov.
UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon and EU High Representative Javier Solana are also in attendance, as is European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The League of Arab States is also represented. The World Bank, the IMF and Arab Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank, OECD and other financial institutions are present.
Experts estimate that it will take around $100 billion to raise Iraq to its feet. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki emphasized the problem of Iraq's huge debt. It has an internal debt of $140 billion, which was built up by the Saddam Hussein regime during the 1980-1988 war with Iran.
Al-Maliki urged conference participants to forgive Iraq's debts. Fifty-two countries have already done that, in part or in full. They include the Paris Club of creditor countries, including Russia. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and China remain Baghdad's largest creditors.
The World Bank supported the idea of a compact to aid Iraq. However, the world community also made it clear that it cannot be an eternal donor, and Iraq must implement economic reforms and raise the level of security and stability in the country in the next five years.
Russia is one of the country's main creditors. Russia would like to receive access to Iraq oil deposits to offset the debt, but Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr has rejected that proposal for Russia and other interested countries.
About 80 delegations are present at the two-day conference to form a “compact” on aid to the suffering country. Most countries are being represented by the foreign ministers. The U.S. delegation is headed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russia's by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov.
UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon and EU High Representative Javier Solana are also in attendance, as is European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The League of Arab States is also represented. The World Bank, the IMF and Arab Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank, OECD and other financial institutions are present.
Experts estimate that it will take around $100 billion to raise Iraq to its feet. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki emphasized the problem of Iraq's huge debt. It has an internal debt of $140 billion, which was built up by the Saddam Hussein regime during the 1980-1988 war with Iran.
Al-Maliki urged conference participants to forgive Iraq's debts. Fifty-two countries have already done that, in part or in full. They include the Paris Club of creditor countries, including Russia. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and China remain Baghdad's largest creditors. The World Bank supported the idea of a compact to aid Iraq. However, the world community also made it clear that it cannot be an eternal donor, and Iraq must implement economic reforms and raise the level of security and stability in the country in the next five years.
