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| UAE,Qatar to waive most Iraq debt after Baker trip |
| 2004-01-20 |
| The Gulf states of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), key U.S. allies, said on Tuesday after talks with Washington’s Iraq debt envoy that they would waive most of the more than $7 billion Iraq owes them. The crown prince of the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, said his country was prepared to start talks to write off most of Iraq’s debts which a UAE source told Reuters were more than 14 billion dirhams ($3.8 billion). "The UAE will waive most of Iraq’s debts and is prepared, for this purpose, to start urgent negotiations over the matter so that the results of the talks are acceptable to the new Iraqi government," the state news agency WAM quoted Sheikh Khalifa as saying after meeting the U.S. envoy James Baker. In Qatar, a Foreign Ministry official said his country would waive most of Iraq’s debts and consider writing off the rest. Another Qatari official told Reuters that Iraq owes Doha about $4 billion that has accrued since the 1980s. "The state of Qatar will forgive most of the debts Iraq owes it and will consider waiving the remaining amount at a later, more appropriate time," the ministry official told the state news agency QNA after a meeting between Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Baker. Damm, James Baker must be carrying that briefcase from "Pulp Fiction". |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 Agreed, OP! Can't we, like, arrange for Hart-less to go back to his yacht and sail off into the sunset? Preferrably forever? Ed |
| Posted by: Ed Becerra 2004-1-20 9:54:27 PM |
| #5 We'd like to leak Gary Hart all over the Arapaho Basin ski area, about 2 grams per drop. Please, somebody, keep him from coming back to Colorado! The hog farms smell like roses compared to "Hartache" Hart. Why couldn't he go to Jamaica and start a really bad Reggae band or something? |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-1-20 8:16:29 PM |
| #4 I'm sure Gary Hart will undercut Baker by leaking details from his own secret negotiations with all these countries. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-1-20 5:28:32 PM |
| #3 Brother Baker is doing pretty well.... but ideally not only would they forgive the debt, they would help finance the War. I like to show a small profit on these interventions. Hmmmmm... Has Baker been to SA yet? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-1-20 3:47:13 PM |
| #2 Remember all the gnashing of teeth by our liberal buddies when it was announced that the Axis of Weasels couldn't participate in the US contracts on Iraq being bid? How this would make Baker's job impossible because the various weasels would retaliate and not cancel Iraqi debt? Yep, they said that. And look what happened: Qatar, UAE, France, Germany, China and Russia all agreed to cancel a big chunk of Iraqi debt. Guess Baker's better than we thought. Or is briefcase is. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-1-20 3:27:07 PM |
| #1 The Velvet Hammer delivers yet another blow. "Sheikh, you wouldn't BELIEVE some of the stuff ol' saddam is tellin us boys! I'm gonna make you an offer you cain't refuse." |
| Posted by: 4thInfVet 2004-1-20 3:18:38 PM |