kuwait City • Iraq's government spokesman, in comments published yesterday, called on Gulf states to cancel billions of dollars owed from loans and upgrade their diplomatic representation

in Baghdad.

"Russia forgave 12 billion dollars of Iraqi debt. We have not seen similar moves from our neighbours," Ali Al Dabbagh told Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas ahead of a gathering in Kuwait.

"We must abandon the past and part of it is cancelling Iraqi debt," said Dabbagh, adding that most of the debt stemmed from the former regime of Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.

Gulf states, especially OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, agreed several years ago to forgive a substantial part of Iraqi debt, estimated to total tens of billions of dollars, but Iraq wants this to be translated into action.

Foreign ministers of Iraq’s neighbours, along with Egypt and Bahrain, plus five UN Security Council permanent members and other Group of Eight nations, are to meet in Kuwait on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Iraq.

The conference is the third of its kind.