DOHA, June 14, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Group of 77 and China welcomed the recent decision by the G8 to write off some 40 billion dollars of debts owed by developing countries, but rejected linking this to democratic reforms.

The draft Doha Declaration, to be ratified by the group leaders on Wednesday, June 15, urged the international community "to categorically reject any conditionality in the provision of development assistance."

The text, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, June 14, stressed that each country "has the sovereign right to determine its own development priorities and strategies."

The draft was endorsed by the foreign ministers of the G-77 and China at the conclusion of their two-day meeting.

Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud, the minister of state for foreign affairs of host Qatar, told a news conference after the meeting that the G-77 and China "welcome any initiative by the developed nations to write off debts of the poor countries".

"We don’t know yet if there are conditions or not but we reject any conditions,” he stressed.

The same position was echoed by Delano Franklyn, the foreign minister of Jamaica and rotating chairman of the G-77.

"I must say that I'm very happy that the leadership of the G8 countries now in 2005 do what the G77 leaders have been seeking for a long time.

"We are extremely pleased with the decision that has been taken by the G8 countries to write off some 40 million dollars debts.

"However, we take note of the fact that it is contiguous on countries pursuing democratic governance."

Franklyn stressed that democracy "is a very relative term," has "different definitions" and "can by applied in different ways".

He went on: "It is very interesting to know the definition that is given to democracy by the G8 countries."

The G8 hammered out Saturday, June 11, a historic deal to immediately write off 40 billions of dollars owed by the world’s poorest countries to multilateral lenders.

The White House said last week a debt-relief plan would be linked to "improving governance, reducing corruption and completing a program with the International Monetary Fund that demonstrates a commitment to sound economic policies."

The draft declaration affirms the need for a just solution to the Palestinian cause based on UN resolutions 242 and 338.

It also underlined Palestinians' right of self-determination, including the establishment of an independent state with Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) as its capital.

"We stress that Israel’s unlawful practices in colonizing Palestinian lands through, inter alia, the construction of the [separation] wall, which is intricately linked with the illegal Israeli settlement campaign in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, constitute breaches of international law."

Defying international resolutions, Israel revealed on May 16, plans to build a section of its separation wall to link the largest Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank to Al-Quds.

The controversial barrier has been deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice and the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding Tel Aviv to tear it down and compensate affected Palestinians.

A senior Qatari official told IOL that a number of Latin American countries have expressed reservations at the draft Declaration article on the Palestinian issue.

They wanted a more light-worded statement "to avoid angering developing countries which offer aid".

The draft declaration also expresses concern over the imposition of unilateral sanctions against Syria by the United States.

It maintains that the Syria Accountability Act is "contrary to international law and a violation of the purpose and principles of the UN Charter."

The document called on the US to "resort to dialogue with Syria based on respect and mutual interest for achieving the best of the two nations and their peoples."