Iraq demands lifting sanctions, halt inspection finance
Iraq-UN, Politics, 2/3/2005

Iraq has request the UN to lift all international sanctions prescribed on it and to stop payment of the country's oil revenues to compensate persons effected by the Gulf war in 1991 and salaries of UN weapons inspectors.

Iraq's ambassador to the UN, Samir al-Sumeidai', called for not wasting the Iraqi oil money on the UN inspectors who stopped since two years from searching for banned weapons in Iraq.

In a press conference, he said time is ripe now to start gradually in canceling the use of oil revenues in paying compensation for the victims of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and discussing lifting weapons purchase embargo which was imposed in 1990.

The Iraqi diplomat indicated that these three issues are the specialty of the UN Security Council, adding that Iraq had announced to the whole world that it wants to live peacefully with its neighbors.

Worthy mentioning that these sanctions which were imposed by the UN Security Council on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and that between 1996 and 2003 a sum of $ 67 billion of the Iraqi oil sales were distributed on programs run by the UN.

While some of these programs were abrogated since then, like the oil-for-food program, some of these sums are still used in financing UN teams to inspect for weapons in Iraq despite the halting of inspection operations prior to the invasion which was led by the US against Iraq in 2003.

However, the compensation committee which is run by the UN still allocates a portion of Iraqi oil sales estimated at $ 12 billion annually allocated for the cases filed for compensation at a value estimated at $ 350 billion, a sum of $ 51.8 billion of it was paid.

Previous Stories:
  Elyawer for participation of all Iraqis in drawing a constitution   (2/2/2005)
  Independent Oil-for-Food panel interviews UN Secretary-General   (1/29/2005)
  UN calls for increasing presence in Iraq   (12/14/2004)

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