PARIS, Sept 27: Saudi Arabia and Kuwait must make an effort to cancel some of the debt owed to them by Iraq, Xavier Musca, chairman of the Paris Club of official creditors said in an interview.

In 2004, the Paris Club of official creditors, a group of 19 nations, wrote off $100 billion or 80 per cent of Iraqi debt owed to its members that was mostly accrued during the era of Saddam Hussein.

When a country receives a debt deal from the Paris Club, the condition is that it must also seek a similar deal with its other creditors.

The club wants Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, two of Iraq’s largest creditors, to offer similar terms but neither country is part of the group, highlighting the problem the 19-members have in forcing non-members to comply.

“Saudi Arabia and Kuwait still haven’t offered to Iraq a debt treatment comparable to the one provided by the Paris Club in 2004,” Musca said.

“They are very big creditors of Iraq. It’s not very good that the countries that are geographically close to Iraq do not participate in the debt relief provided to that country.” Iraqi officials have estimated the country’s remaining debt at more than $50 billion.

It is said to owe Saudi Arabia more than $17 billion but no immediate relief has been offered while Kuwait is owed about $15 billion.

Some Kuwaiti parliamentarians have said their oil-exporting neighbour should pay back its debt.

All three countries are member of the Opec.

The question over the Iraqi debt underscores the problems the club has in encouraging non-members to participate in debt restructurings.

Aside from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, a growing breed of new international lenders, such as Brazil and China, are also giving cause for concern.—Reuters