A couple more meetings today. Met with one of the ruling council of the Da'wa Islamic Party, who was very clear that Iraq should not repay any of Saddam's debts as they had not been responsible for them and had already suffered a great deal from them. Another meeting with Sharif Ali, the descendent of Iraq's Hashemite kings, was less positive as he said he thought Iraq should accept legal obligation for the former regime's debts and hope for altrusitic reductions from creditors. On the issue of reparations he questioned the size of the claims, and seemed to suggest that the awards and claims should be reprocessed in a fairer way with Iraq input. He's a shrewd player, who's rocketed in popularity from being a bit of a joke to being one of Iraq's most popular figures through his opposition to the Governing Council. He certainly puts on a very good regal show at his plush mansion - compared to many of the political parties which are squatting in derelict offices of the former regime. I disagreed with his position on debt, but was generally impressed with him. One of the Iraqis with my suggested that he could potentially be a figure similar to King Hussein of Jordan, who brought stability and a reasonably moderate rule compared to neighbouring countries.