President Bush named James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state, as his personal envoy to Iraq today to help the country grapple with its debt problem.  

"Secretary Baker will report directly to me," Mr. Bush said in a statement, "and will lead an effort to work with the world's governments at the highest levels, with international organizations and with the Iraqis, in seeking the restructuring and reduction of Iraq's official debt."

The White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said the president made the appointment in response to a request by the Iraqi Governing Council.

In his statement, Mr. Bush said that "the future of the Iraqi people should not be mortgaged to the enormous burden of debt incurred to enrich Saddam Hussein's regime."

"This debt endangers Iraq's long-term prospects for political health and economic prosperity," Mr. Bush said. "The issue of Iraq's debt must be resolved in a manner that is fair and does not unjustly burden a struggling nation at its moment of hope and promise."

The Bush administration has been under increasing criticism from Democrats and others, including world leaders, for its management of post-war Iraq. The financial issues include who will pay for the country's reconstruction and how Iraq will manage its foreign debt, which totals US$125 billion to US$200 billion.

Some legislators here and the leaders of other countries want to tie the discussion about how much to contribute to Iraq's reconstruction -- and whether it will come in the form of loans or grants -- to the question of how war-torn Iraq will pay off its crippling foreign debt, and whether some of its debtors will forgive portions of those loans.

In Iraq, the minister of finance, Kamil Gailani, said he welcomed Mr. Bush's announcement.

"This appointment will give significant momentum to the process of resolving Iraq's external financial obligations and reflects recognition by the United States government of the importance of this process," Mr. Gailani said in a statement read to reporters by United States military officials in Baghdad.

"Resolving Iraq's external financial obligations is essential for Iraq's economic development, internal stability and ability to move past the dark period of the former regime."

This is not the first time Mr. Bush has turned to Mr. Baker, who in addition to serving as secretary of state during the presidency of Mr. Bush's father, was also a secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan.

Most recently, Mr. Bush dispatched Mr. Baker to the former Soviet republic of Georgia to discuss political and economic issues.

He was sent there in July to work with his old friend, Georgia's president, Eduard A. Shevardnadze -- the foreign minister of the former Soviet Union just before the fall of Communism -- at a time when the country was torn by political strife. Mr. Shevardnadze was forced to step down as president almost two weeks ago.

In 2000, Mr. Bush sent Mr. Baker to Florida as his representative during the ballot counting for the presidential election.

(China Daily December 6, 2003)