4/30/2011
Iraqi parliament passes claims settlement accord with US
BAGHDAD, Iraqi House of Representatives endorsed Saturday the claims settlement accord between the Government of the Republic of Iraq, and the US Government in the presence of Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Finance Minister Raf'i Isawi, and Iraqi Central Bank Governor Sinan Al-Shabibi.
Zebari stressed, at the outset of the parliamentary session, the importance of such deal, noting that it comes in the interest of Iraq, and addresses some unresolved claims that were left over by the defunct regime, according to his own words.
He also drew attention to, "the impossibility of recanting such claims under the pretext that they had been committed under the defunct regime, and as international law does not allow this." Zebari pointed out that there are a large number of a lawsuits filed against the the acts perpetrated by the defunct regime with worth exceeding USD 1.137 billion by virtue of the verdicts issued by the US courts, making clear that the Iraqi Government, "agreed on the peaceful settlement of such claims through signing an agreement through which it pays sums of money to the US Government amounting to USD 400 million."
He added that this will be,"in exchange for a US commitment to clearing any lawsuits filed before the American courts, along with exempting Iraq from any financial responsibility toward the US citizens, rejecting the filing of any other lawsuit or referring to the US Federal Government, and making compensations confined to given lawsuits."
Further, Zebari warned against what he described as "the moral and material harms inflicted by lifting the international protection on the Iraqi funds following June 30, 2011," adding that, "protecting such funds will need an executive decree from the US President Barack Obama," noting that many US bodies informed Iraq through various channels that, "the executive order providing for protecting funds will not be issued on May 20 before Iraq's endorsement of current agreement."
As for Isawi, he made clear that the topic of Iraqi debt is an old one, though it aggravated in the 1990s to hit USD 140 in 2005, noting that the Ministry of Finance succeeded in extinguishing many debts over the past years through purchasing them from some countries.
He also said that "the non-passing of this agreement may open the door wider before further lawsuits," deeming the current agreement a step toward purchasing the debt incurred on Iraq as a result of the lawsuits.
Iraq's meeting of its legal obligations will be positively reflected on the trade and investment sector as it needs a speedy development, noting that Iraqis reserve the right to call on US to compensate them as, and that this issue should be organized according to the signed agreement.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2163328&Language=en
