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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Washington File

15 May 2003

Snow to Ask For Repatriation of Iraqi Assets at G-8 Meeting

(Treasury secretary says Iraq's debt also will be on agenda) (1180)
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow will ask finance ministers of the
world's major industrialized countries meeting May 17-18 in France to
aggressively search for illegal assets of the Saddam Hussein regime
and repatriate them to the Iraqi people.
In a May 15 statement, Snow said he also will discuss with his
counterparts Iraq's repayment of its debt to lenders. "I believe that
no one should expect Iraq to begin to make debt payments for some
time," he said.
The Group of Eight (G-8) countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The finance
ministers' meeting precedes a meeting of the G-8 heads of state June
1-3 in France.
Snow commended the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) for starting economic and development needs assessments in Iraq.
"We look forward to the full participation of the international
financial institutions to help Iraq rebuild and to rejoin the
international economy," he said.
Snow said the finance ministers will discuss tailoring debt relief for
other countries, "keeping debt restructuring as a last resort."
They also will review progress made in fighting terrorist financing,
including an IMF and World Bank pilot project to asses countries'
anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regimes, he said.
(Note: In the following text, "billion" equals 1,000 million.)
Following is the text of Snow's statement:
(begin text)
Thursday, May 15, 2003 
Statement by Treasury Secretary John W. Snow in Advance of the G8
Finance Ministers Meeting
I look forward to meeting with my fellow finance ministers in
Deauville this weekend in advance of the G-8 Summit in Evian.
Growth must remain our top priority. I underscored this at my first
G-7 meeting in February, and when we last met in April, noting that
the world economy is falling far short of its potential. This remains
the case today. The United States is doing its part by aggressive and
timely monetary and fiscal action. The President's Jobs and Growth
program will further accelerate the U.S. recovery. But a healthy
global economy needs multiple engines of growth. Our G-7 partners must
immediately take their own steps, appropriate to their own
circumstances, to spur growth, create jobs and contribute to global
prosperity. Structural reforms are particularly important to unleash
potential in some of our economies.
I also expect to engage my counterparts in a discussion of the needs
in Iraq. Coalition forces in Iraq are addressing the humanitarian
needs of the country and have begun the arduous but hopeful task of
reconstructing Iraq and rebuilding its economy after decades of
misrule. I will continue a discussion initiated at our last meeting
regarding Iraqi debt. As we previously agreed, debt discussions will
take place in the context of the Paris Club. In addition, I would like
to explore a role for the IMF in dealing with the issue as well. I
believe that no one should expect Iraq to begin to make debt payments
for some time.
I commend the World Bank and the IMF for agreeing to begin assessment
activity in Iraq. This is good news. We look forward to the full
participation of the international financial institutions to help Iraq
to rebuild and to rejoin the international economy. It will also be
useful this weekend to begin discussions on a process for individual
countries to donate funds for ongoing reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
Finally, I will urge the ministers to do everything in their power to
make seized assets available to the Iraqi people and to aggressively
continue the search for the illegal assets of the corrupt regime of
Saddam Hussein. Our global efforts to track down, freeze, and
repatriate to the people of Iraq assets that have been systematically
looted by Saddam Hussein, his family, and his cronies are critical.
While major combat operations in Iraq are over and the Hussein regime
has been toppled, the search for assets continues. Our task is clear
-- identify and repatriate all assets, whether they are held in the
name of the former Iraqi government or hidden in the international
financial system behind a maze of front companies and straw men.
Whatever Hussein's legacy may be, it must not include successfully
stealing and hiding billions of dollars in the international financial
system.
Improving investor confidence through strengthened corporate
governance has been a key focus of G-7 discussions this year. The
essence of this effort is reinforcing corporate governance practices,
market discipline, transparency and regulation in line with agreed
principles. The United States has taken strong steps to punish
wrongdoing and improve oversight through the President's Ten-Point
Plan and implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. I will make clear
to my colleagues the United States' ongoing commitment to be active in
ensuring accountability and promoting transparency.
Clear progress has been made in preventing financial crises and
providing for smoother resolution of those that occur. The United
States applauds the increasing use of collective action clauses in
external debt, with Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay and South Africa all
having included these clauses in recent issues. With European Union
countries to be issuing soon with collective action clauses and other
emerging market countries seriously considering doing so, the momentum
is building. Widespread use of these clauses will provide the basis
for more orderly debt workouts. We will also discuss this weekend a
new way for the Paris Club to address countries' debt problems --
tailoring relief to each country's particular debt sustainability
situation while keeping debt restructuring as a last resort.
As time passes, it is important that we maintain focus and momentum in
the ongoing fight against terrorism financing. Finance Ministers will
review this weekend the significant progress made in this effort,
including the IMF and World Bank's pilot project to assess countries'
anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regimes. We look to the
Financial Action Task Force to continue its work and to cooperate more
closely with the United Nations and the IFIs to achieve widespread
compliance with international standards.
The challenges of reducing poverty and promoting growth in the poorest
countries remain an important part of the G-8 agenda. Achieving
results will depend on countries' own commitments to reform, growth
and good governance. The President's proposed Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA) takes the concepts of rewarding performance and
measuring results and turns it into an operational action plan. As
reinforcement for the United States' strong commitment to help the
poorest countries achieve growth and reduce poverty, the President has
requested $1.3 billion for MCA this year, increasing to $5 billion by
year three and thereafter. He has also proposed $10 billion in new
money to combat HIV/AIDS over the next five years and $200 million in
new money to address famine and food security worldwide this year. Of
course, strong global growth will help reduce poverty in the world's
poorest countries, which again underscores why growth must remain the
G-8's top priority.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)



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