Iraqi appeal on debt stirs little action among Arabs

UPPLANDS VASBY, Sweden - Iraqi officials appealed yesterday to escape nearly $100 billion in debt and war reparations - owed mostly to Arab nations still reluctant to forgive Iraq's belligerence during Saddam Hussein's regime.

Iraq's plea for debt relief - made before nearly 500 delegates at a UN conference to assess Iraq's reconstruction - was echoed at the highest diplomatic levels including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

But Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki received no firm commitments, and two key neighbors - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait - sent only low-level envoys to the meeting outside Stockholm.

Iraq has at least $67 billion in foreign debt - most incurred under Hussein and owed to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

In addition, the UN Compensation Commission says $28 billion remains to be paid for Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iraq now gives 5 percent of its oil revenue to meet the compensation claims.

The Iraqi government maintains it should not be saddled with debts accrued during Hussein's repressive regime. "It is time to liberate the people of Iraq from this burden," Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said.

Many Western nations and other growing economic partners in Iraq, including Russia and China, have dropped Baghdad's debt.

But Sunni Arab neighbors - wary of Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated government and its Iranian ties - have been reluctant to follow their lead. Kuwait remains steadfast in demanding payments for the widespread damage to commercial centers during the invasion, which led to the 1991 Gulf War.

Saudi Arabia said last year it would forgive Iraq's debt but has not followed through with the decision.