Butler to visit Iraq next week

Iraqi sources told ArabicNews.com that the head of the United Nations committee authorized to disarm Iraqi of its weapons of mass destruction, Richard Butler, will present a report to the UN Security Council that will include matters aiming at keeping the international embargo on Iraq.

The source also said that Butler will travel to Baghdad on June 8.

Iraqi Minister of Trade Mohammed Mahdi Saleh said that the oil-for-food plan failed to achieve its goals and proved that it is an unsuccessful method of easing human suffering and said that if the international community is eager to solve the issue of the suffering, it will demand to instantly lift of the economic sanctions against Iraq.

He said, "Before the embargo, we were spending $20 billion annually on importing goods and on development projects, now we important goods worth $3 billion. Can this help 22 million citizens?"