Internal disputes between Odai Saddam Hussein and Tareq Aziz

The British daily Sunday Telegraph said on Sunday that the Iraqi government has decided to close a network of trade companies established abroad to finance the smuggling of commodities as means of violating sanctions imposed on Iraq.

The British daily said that persons close to the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz used to monitor these companies and used them to negotiate with French companies for buying Iraqi oil. The revenues were used to buy trucks for the Iraqi army.

The paper quoted Western sources as saying that halting these foreign trade operations reflects a struggle over authority in Baghdad. The elder son of the Iraqi president, Odai Saddam Hussein, seeks to limit Aziz's influence because of the latter's control of Iraq's foreign policy.

The paper continued that Odai, who cannot launch an open attack against Aziz due to his close relations with the Iraqi president, tries to eliminate his influence through eliminating the interests of people close to him.

Meanwhile, Aziz returned to Baghdad at the conclusion of his mission in New York where he held four rounds of talks with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, but without reaching a solution to the crisis with the UN over inspections for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

On his way back to Baghdad from New York, Aziz met in Paris with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and in Amman with Jordanian Crown Prince Hassan Bin Talal in the presence of Jordanian Premier Fayez Tarawneh.

Elsewhere, an official at the UN has announced that the UN sanctions committee has approved 31 contracts at a cost of US $55 million providing for buying spare parts for the rehabilitation of Iraqi oil firms.