Despite a strong push from Washington and the Iraqi authorities, little action on debt relief was seen at the Stockholm conference on Iraq.

Both US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pressed Arab creditors to reduce debts owed by Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule.

Maliki argued that the Iraqi people should not repay the debts, which were mainly the result of wars with neighboring countries.

"Iraq did not benefit from this, has only reaped destruction and damage and ruined relations with neighbors," Maliki told a press conference on Thursday.

He said it is legitimate for Iraq to ask for debt relief as the country no longer poses a threat to peace in the region.

Maliki said the debts, as well as international sanctions on Iraq, imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, are obstacles to Iraq's economic development.

However, the biggest Arab creditors – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – failed to make concrete promises at the conference.

The Paris Club, which groups the world's richest countries in the West, agreed to forgive 80 percent of Iraq's debts a week before the Stockholm conference. The United States, a member of the Paris Club, would write off Iraq's debts altogether.

"So far we have not heard from the other countries that have not taken decisions in order to reduce the debts, just like the Paris Club countries," said Maliki.

"We hope the positive support that we have obtained (at the conference) constitutes a message to those friendly states to follow suit."

Analysts believe that Sunni-dominated Arab creditors, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, are wary of Shi'ite Iran's influence on the Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shi'ite Muslims and Kurds.