Al Hakim criticizes UN, rules out attack on Iraq

The head of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution (SCIR) in Iraq, Mohamed Baqer Al Hakim, called on the UN to increase the volume of the food allowed in the oil-for-food agreement and to toughen its inspections over the distribution of food and medicines in Iraq.

He said the UN left the Iraqi regime to distribute those supplies freely in spite of the existence of 151 UN inspectors in Iraq. He added that those supplies are not distributed in a just way and that the SCIR submitted a complaint regarding this to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who promised to investigate that issue, but nothing happened, he said.

Al Hakim stressed the need of the Iraqi people for more assistance and the importance of having a strong UN inspection to stop the unfair distribution of those supplies which is done according to political persuasions.

Al Hakim, who maintains residence in Iran, ruled out the possibility of a military strike against Iraq, because the government "gets afraid" whenever it feels that there is an imminent strike, he said. He also ruled out the possibility that the Iraqi-Iranian contacts have affected the activities of the SCIR as those contacts have been happening for many years.