CAIRO: Saudi Arabia has decided to write off 80 per cent of the more than $15 billion it is owed by Iraq, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Wednesday. As part of its efforts to help Iraq rebuild, the Bush administration has been pressing Iraq's creditors to follow Washington's lead and write off debt they are owed by Baghdad.

Asked at a news conference at the Arab League in Cairo whether the kingdom had agreed to write off 80 per cent of Iraq's debt, Prince Saud said: “Yes, yes.”

Asked when the decision was reached, he said: “When we finished the negotiations with Iraq.”The Washington Post earlier quoted a senior Saudi official as saying Iraq owed between $15 billion and $18 billion to his country.

Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr estimates his country's debt at $140 billion. Much of that money was borrowed to finance the 1980-1988 war between Iraq and Iran.

Jabr, who was in Washington for World Bank meetings, said he had asked Saudi Arabia to forgive all of Iraq's debt but was rebuffed. So far, 52 countries have cancelled 80 to 100 per cent of Iraq's debt, Jabr told the Post.—Reuters