Iraq criticizes oil-for-food program

Iraq said yesterday that the resignation of two UN officials this month came because they saw that the UN oil-for-food program did not fulfill Iraq's needs and that it is not an alternative to lifting the sanctions.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahaf said the successive resignations of two high-ranking officials from the humanitarian program in Iraq no doubt reveals the failure of this program in fulfilling the basic minimum limit of the Iraqi people's needs.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Aziz said during a meeting with French intellectuals that the two UN officials resigned after seeing that Iraq's agreement with the international organization is inapplicable.

Aziz added that they witnessed the implementation of the oil-for-food program and the obstacles made by the American and the British administrations to stand between implementing this program.