[mgj-discuss] Big news in debt cancellation!

[Phipco]

Our office burst into cheers when we got this (see below). About 2 months
ago while Marie was in Nigeria she heard several elected officials say that
Nigeria would sooner default on their loans then join HIPC. This is another
great statement out of Nigeria. The movement against the Bank and Fund is
alive and well going into the G8 (the Nigerian President will be in
Georgia)

Enjoy,
Morrigan

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo said Sunday that his country`s $30b
external debt was "burdensome, unsustainable and unpayable" and appealed
for leniency from its creditors, AFP reported from Abuja. In a televised
address, Obasanjo complained that other countries had won debt relief only
after going through crises, and volunteered to resign his post. He said
that Pakistan`s debt had been lifted after it supported U.S. action in
Afghanistan, and that Iraq won relief after the downfall of dictator
Saddam Hussein when the international community stepped in to help postwar
reconstruction. "We don`t want the downfall of anybody here," he said.
"But if actually a downfall of some sort is needed to write off our debt,
I will volunteer to step down," he said, accusing creditor countries of
blackmailing Nigeria. "Debt as a sword has become another instrument of
intimidation and control. We reject it .. the debts being held against us
are too burdensome, unsustainable and unpayable," he alleged.
 


-- 
In solidarity

"We have fed you all for a thousand years! If blood be the price of your 
lawful wealth then my god we have paid in full!"
-unknown proletarian-