Iraq's Finance Ministry announced on January 10 that till December 31, 1999, the total amount of money that Arab countries owe it has reached some 1.7 billion U.S. dollars.

An authorized source of the ministry told the Iraqi News Agency that the sum includes Iraqi bank system's frozen assets, loans, arrears of oil and frozen profits at some Arab companies.

The debtors are Saudi Arabia with 600 million dollars, Syria with 460 million dollars, Bahrain with 330 million dollars, Kuwait with 196 million dollars, Somalia with 90 million dollars and other Arab countries with some 20 million dollars.

Under relevant UN Security Council resolutions, Iraq's assets in foreign countries have been frozen since it invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Iraq has long criticized the Security Council for not allowing it to use those frozen assets for humanitarian purposes. (Xinhua)