Iraq's council welcomes announcement of Baker as U.S. envoy

By Jacqui S. Porth
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The senior advisor of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Baghdad says reducing Iraq's debt is a high priority for both the CPA and Iraq's Governing Council.

CPA Advisor Daniel Senor told reporters at a press conference in Baghdad that the White House announcement December 5 that former Secretary of State James Baker will be President Bush's envoy to resolve Iraq's external financial obligations is evidence of the priority being placed on Iraqi debt reduction.

Iraqi Minister of Finance Kamil Gailani asked that a statement about the Baker announcement be read during the press conference, according to Senor. Gailani said Iraq's recovery depends on resolving the country's external debts.

Reading Gailani's statement, Senor said: "I welcome the announcement today by the White House of the appointment of James A. Baker, III, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and State Departments, as U.S. presidential envoy for the Resolution of Iraq's external financial obligations. This appointment will give significant momentum to the process of resolving Iraq's external financial obligations and reflects recognition by the United States government of the importance of this process."

Further, the statement said: "Resolving Iraq's external financial obligations is essential for Iraq's economic development, internal stability and ability to move past the dark period of the former regime. I call on all governments to regard the debt resolution process with equal importance and urgency and to move forward rapidly with generous reduction and rescheduling of Iraq's external financial obligations."

Senor was asked to estimate the size of Iraq's external debt, but said that it is difficult to do with any degree of certainty. Combining estimates from sources such as the Paris Club, the London Club's private creditors, and non-Paris Club sovereign creditors with financial transactions between Iraq and the Persian Gulf states, estimates can climb as high as $125 billion, he said.

Getting to an exact number is "going to require restructuring a lot of these documents and getting a closer look at them," Senor said, adding that it will be an important task for Minister Gailani, the Governing Council and Baker.

Senor was also asked about jurisdictional control of the new Iraqi Army. At the moment, he said, "We are technically an occupational force, so we have a responsibility overall, broadly, for security in the country, and it falls under that mandate." Later, he said, "When we transfer sovereignty over to a sovereign Iraqi government this summer, the new Iraqi Army will fall under that, and they will make decisions about how to structure, whether or not there's a specific ministry assigned to it or it falls under another ministry."

U.S. Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt also addressed the Iraqi security situation during the briefing, saying "that the offensive operations that are being conducted against the enemy in Baghdad have sent a clear message to the terrorists that we will come after you ... kill ... or ... capture you."

Kimmitt, who is deputy director of operations for Combined Joint Task Force 7, also said that commanders suspect that many of the attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces are being funded by non-local sources. In the past week, he said, there have been an average of 19 attacks against non-Iraqi coalition forces and two against Iraqi security personnel or civilians.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)