Iraq Seeks Debt Relief at U.N. Conference in Sweden

Iraq will be asking the nations to which it owes about $67 billion to relieve its debt when nations gather at a U.N.-sponsored meeting in Sweden on Thursday. More than 100 nations are expected to be represented at the event, which is being held near Stockholm. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki told reporters that the Iraqi agenda for the meeting was to ask that nations open embassies in Iraq and cancel debts owed to them, much of which dates back to the Saddam Hussein regime. Much skepticism concerning the Iraqi government’s ability to bring stability to the nation exists, and notwithstanding U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s exhortations for "the international community to stand by Iraq," few new initiatives are expected to emerge from the meeting.