BERLIN, Nov 20: Germany on Saturday unveiled a breakthrough international plan to wipe out tens of billions of dollars of Iraqi debt so that the war-torn country can begin rebuilding in earnest.

The accord, announced on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting of finance chiefs in Berlin, could see the Paris Club of creditor nations cut up to 80 percent of Iraq's debt and the interests it owes them.

Technical aspects of it were being thrashed out by the Paris Club members in the French capital and representatives in Berlin thought that an official announcement was imminent.

A third of Iraq's crippling 120-billion-dollar international debt burden is owed to Paris Club members, and France and Germany, along with Russia, have up until now doggedly refused to go beyond a 50 percent cut.

But speaking in Berlin after meeting US officials, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said that a three-phase plan had been agreed upon.

"In the first stage around 30 percent (will be waived) immediately; in the second stage around 30 percent, tied to an International Monetary Fund programme, and in the third stage 20 percent, dependent on the success of this programme," he told reporters.

Mr Eichel warned that the debt waiver should not be seen as a precedent and is a "special situation for Iraq", where a fledgling US-backed government is trying to encourage rebuilding and elections amid chronic insecurity. -AFP