Three leaders agree on need for "substantial debt reduction" in Paris Club

Following visits December 16 by former Secretary of State and Treasury James Baker to Paris to meet with French President Jacques Chirac and to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, President Bush, Chirac and Schroeder issued a joint statement on the need to reduce Iraqi debt.

Following is the text of the statement:

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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
December 16, 2003

JOINT STATEMENT AGREED TO BY PRESIDENT BUSH, PRESIDENT CHIRAC, AND CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER

Debt reduction is critical if the Iraqi people are to have any chance to build a free and prosperous Iraq. Therefore, France, Germany, and the United States agree that there should be substantial debt reduction for Iraq in the Paris Club in 2004, and will work closely with each other and with other countries to achieve this objective. The exact percentage of debt reduction that would constitute "substantial" debt reduction is subject to future agreement between the parties.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)