An Iraqi interim minister said yesterday his country was mindful of the need to settle unpaid bills for foreign building contractors, but asked them to consider the country's devastated financial condition.

South Korea's top contractor, Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co Ltd, said this week it would file a lawsuit with a British court to collect 860 million dollar of unpaid bills owed by the Iraqi government.

"We recognise the need to consider that management of outstanding liabilities is necessary as an essential precondition to accessing additional financing from the private sector," Ali Allawi, the Iraqi Interim Minister of Trade, told reporters.

"But Iraq is starting from ground zero and its financial resources are very very low, as a result of various wars," he said on a visit to Seoul.