The Paris Club of creditor states can agree a debt relief deal for Iraq quickly but the agreement can be signed only when the country has an internationally recognized leadership, the Paris Club’s president said on Thursday. Increasing hopes that a deal will be reached, Britain said during a European tour by U.S. special envoy James Baker that it backed the idea of a substantial reduction in debts estimated at $120 billion. The British comment echoed similar political pledges made this week by France, Germany and Italy after talks with Baker, who was visiting Britain and Russia on Thursday.
This article makes no mention of Japan, even though they agree too.
I know all of this is old news to Rantburgers by now. But, I have a question I haven’t seen addressed anywhere. What, exactly, did Baker tell/show France and Germany? I’m thinking that the US has piles of info that could be damaging to those countries should it "leak." Maybe the threat of some arm-twisting was enough to make them fall in line? |