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Cablegate: International Compact with Iraq -- Debt Relief

VZCZCXRO4828
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHEG #6824 3131546
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091546Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2544

UNCLAS CAIRO 006824

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL IZ EG
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL COMPACT WITH IRAQ -- DEBT RELIEF

REF: SECSTATE 181094

Emboff delivered reftel demarche to Amal Morad, Deputy
Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Arab Affairs, who
said that the GOE had not yet entered into negotiations with
Iraq on debt forgiveness. She was aware of the Paris Club
terms, but said that the GOE had not decided how it would
approach any future negotiations on debt forgiveness. she
also said that a London-based firm was calculating how much
Iraq owed the GOE, several parastatal firms and Egyptian
citizens (worker remittances). Asked to estimate the amount,
she offered "several hundred million." Emboff also delivered
the demarche to Mohamed Assaad, Advisor to the Minister of
Finance for Public Debt. Assaad suggested that any
state-to-state debt held by Egypt was likely held by the
military, in which case it would not appear in the GOE
general budget figures. The Ministry of Defense (MOD)
official responsible for debt issues is currently traveling
out of the country but will return next week. Post will
follow up to determine if in fact Iraq owes debt to the MOD,
how much, and if MOD is willing to pursue debt forgiveness.
RICCIARDONE

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