Iraqi Coalition Refutes Claims of Sudani Government Granting Recent African Loans

The Reconstruction and Development Coalition issued a clarification today, Saturday, denying false claims about former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani's government granting loans to African nations. In a statement, the coalition clarified remarks by MP Mohammed al-Shammari regarding alleged loans from Sudani's government to African countries. It affirmed these statements lack accuracy, deviate from truth, and aim to mislead public opinion for political defamation. The coalition added that the loans mentioned are not recent, nor were they granted under Sudani's government. They date back to the 1970s and 1980s, when the former regime provided oil shipments and loans to Arab, African, and Asian countries for political purposes, escalating with its futile wars in the early eighties. It affirmed Iraq's outstanding loans are sovereign debts, monitored by the Ministry of Finance via the Iraqi Fund for External Development, per signed contracts and relevant national and international laws. The statement noted Iraq signed two loans with Tanzania (December 19, 1979, and February 9, 1980) totaling around $187 million. Another loan was with Uganda (March 7, 1981) for about $15 million, and Central Africa (November 19, 1984) for nearly $7 million. These figures are updated through end-2024, reviewed annually for principal, interest, administrative costs, and late fees. The coalition clarified that loan monitoring involves a specialized committee with relevant government bodies, tasked with negotiating settlements. Any settlement requests go to the Council of Ministers for official approval. It affirmed that during Sudani's government, the Council of Ministers issued no approval to reduce or settle any sovereign loan. Instead, it directed the Ministry of Finance, the Iraqi Fund for External Development, and the committee to pursue debt collection within adopted legal frameworks. It noted that making such statements without official source consultation is part of a systematic campaign to distort facts and undermine government decisions, whose positive impact citizens have experienced daily. The coalition expressed confidence in the Iraqi public's awareness and ability to distinguish facts from political allegations, reaffirming its commitment to transparency, defending Iraq's interests, and pursuing financial rights under law. The coalition also confirmed its legal right to take necessary action against anyone misleading public opinion or promoting inaccurate information aimed at distorting facts and harming state institutions and their symbols.