Posted on 11/23/2004 5:35:12 PM PST by WmShirerAdmirer
Iraq has protested against UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's decision to use $US30 million ($A38.2 million) in revenue from a UN oil-for-food program for Iraq to help pay for a corruption investigation in that humanitarian program.
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Iraq's UN Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie argued that Security Council resolutions do not support the use of money from the oil-for-food program "for an investigation into the internal practices of the United Nations in carrying out its duties".
"My government believes that the use of such funds has no legal basis," he said in a letter dated November 19 to US Ambassador John Danforth, the council's current president.
Last month, Annan told the council that money for the probe headed by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker would come from an account earmarked to pay UN administrative and operational costs for the embattled humanitarian program.
Volcker said in August he did not know how long the investigation would take, but estimated it would cost at least $US30 million ($A38.21 million) in the next year.
The oil-for-food program, which began in December 1996 and ended in November 2003, was launched by the Security Council to help Iraqis cope with UN sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Allegations of corruption in the program surfaced in January in the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada, which published a list of about 270 former government officials, activists, journalists and UN officials from more than 46 countries suspected of profiting from Iraqi oil sales that were part of the UN program.
Under the program, Saddam Hussein's regime could sell unlimited quantities of oil provided the money went primarily to buy humanitarian goods and pay reparations to victims of the 1991 Gulf War. The program's administration and operations costs were covered using 2.2 per cent of oil revenue.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that Annan answered Sumaidiaie's letter last week saying "we feel it is a legitimate use of the 2.2 account, and that members of the Security Council agreed with that judgment".
"As far as we're concerned, this is an administrative decision made with the blessing of the council, and I don't anticipate now that it would be changed," he said.
Eckhard said Annan had considered two options to pay for the investigation - going to the UN General Assembly for a special assessment which would be shared by the 191 UN member states or tapping the 2.2 per cent fund.
"He decided after consulting council members that this was a legitimate use of the 2.2 fund," the UN spokesman said.
Sumaidaie disagreed, arguing in his letter that all money in the oil-for-food escrow account "properly belongs to Iraq and should be transferred to the Development Fund for Iraq as soon as possible".
Using oil-for-food money to pay for the investigation, he said, "potentially victimises the people of Iraq twice."
First, if the allegations of abuse prove to be true, then Iraqis were deprived of needed financial resources to cope with sanctions, Sumaidaie said.
Second, by requiring the people of Iraq to pay for an investigation into the alleged abuses, money was being diverted from rebuilding Iraq's shattered infrastructure and economy, he argued.
Allegations of corruption in the program surfaced in January in the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada, which published a list of about 270 former government officials, activists, journalists and UN officials from more than 46 countries suspected of profiting from Iraqi oil sales that were part of the UN program.
In October, a report by Charles Duelfer, the top US arms inspector in Iraq, alleged that Saddam's government manipulated the UN program to acquire billions of dollars in illicit gains and to import illegal goods, including parts for missile systems.
Last week, US Congressional investigators estimated that Saddam's government raised more than $US21.3 billion ($A27.13 billion) in illegal revenue under the oil-for-food program and by subverting UN sanctions for over a decade.
© 2004 AP
Kofi should join Saddam.
So basically the UN wants to screw Iraqis a little more to find out if they screwed them to begin with?
Khofi could probably take that much $$$ out of his cut that's hiding in his swiss bank account! What an arsehole to do that to Iraq.
That's called money laudering. Anon wants to get the crumbs as well. With everyone watching, this is the only way he can get whats left.
Reminds me of one of the big union bosses, darned if I can remember who, about fifty years ago, who was charged with embezzlement of union funds. The union decided that the members had to pay for his defense.
What angers me just as much is the silence of the very liberals who scream about needing UN approval for everything.
Annan is heaping corruption upon corruption....and in broad daylight, no less.
The outrageous behaviour from Kofi Anan is never ending.
Thanks for the welcome.
We signed off on that??? Bad move if we did. But is does say members and not all members. Gee, I wonder who they asked?
The Rapist UN accessing a 'service charge' to Iraq, the rape victim.
Good question. I wonder if there is any way we can access the information on the U.S.'s vote on this. Sending an email of this article to the president@whitehouse.gov.
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