December 25, 2003	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 1, 1424

RIYADH, Dec 24: In another indication of dismay over the state of affairs in Baghdad, Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would not discuss any loan writeoffs with Iraq’s interim authority.

Earlier Saudi Arabia had announced withholding the pledged one billion dollars for reconstruction until things stabilized in Iraq.

Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al Faisal said the government would wait until Iraq had an independent government before looking into the possibility of reducing the debt. Prince Saud also clarified that any attempt by Iraq to join the GCC could only be considered once a representative government was in place.

The Cairo-based Arab League was also initially reluctant to let the Iraqi Governing Council’s foreign minister take Baghdad’s seat in the body during its Cairo meeting. However, analysts say the Americans persuaded and pressured the Arab League to let the Governing Council take the seat.

“This (debt) has to be discussed with a government with total sovereignty, so... this issue is now premature,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Prince Saud al Faisal as saying.

“There is an international dialogue and we are willing to take part and discuss, but I don’t think there is scope for a serious dialogue unless there is an Iraqi government,” he said.

Of Iraq’s 120 billion dollars debt, as much as 81 billion dollars are owed to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Iraq also owes 28.4 billion dollars in unpaid reparations agreed with states affected by its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and a compensation claim by these states of 97.9 billion dollars is also unresolved.