• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Germany agrees to Iraq`s "substantial" debt relief after Baker visit

IRNA

Berlin, Dec 17, IRNA -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has agreed
to "substantially" reduce Iraq`s debt burden following his meeting 
with American special envoy James Baker, German government spokesman 
Bela Anda was quoted as saying Wednesday in a press release. 
"Germany and the US -as well as France- are not only prepared to 
reschedule Iraqi debt but also to grant substantial debt forgiveness,"
Anda said. 
Additional talks on reducing Iraq`s debt would be held in the 
Paris Club - comprised of 19 industrial nations which coordinate debt 
relief programmes for countries with economic problems, according to 
Anda. 
Former US secretary of state James Baker was dispatched to Europe 
to hold talks on slashing Iraq`s external debt with the leaders of the
principal creditor nations like Germany and France both of which had 
also strongly opposed the American war in Iraq. 
Iraq owes around 4.4 billion dollars to Germany. 
Berlin-Washington ties soured again after the Pentagon barred 
German firms from bidding on lucrative reconstruction deals in Iraq. 
OT/211 
End