US President Bush's personal envoy on Iraqi debt, James Baker, on 16 December met with senior European and Iraqi officials in Paris to discuss the issue. Baker's mission was aimed at convincing European countries, especially those opposed to the US-led invasion, to reduce debts accrued by Saddam Hussein's regime. After the meeting, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that it had been a success. 'Obviously, we all share the same goal... of helping the Iraqi people build a free, peaceful and prosperous future, and restructuring and reducing the debt burden is important to achieving that shared goal,' McClellan said. '[Baker] believes they reached an agreement on the need of the Paris Club to reduce the debt burden and do so in 2004 if possible'. The Paris Club, which includes the US, France, Germany, Russia and Japan, presently holds about $40,000 million of Iraq's debt, which the US estimates at about $120,000 million. Iraq's debt has servicing charges in the region of $7 million-8 million a year