Iraq Says U.N. Resolution 1409 Worse Than Oil-for-Food Deal

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 20, 2002

Iraq Says U.N. Resolution 1409 Worse Than Oil-for-Food Deal

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said on Sunday that the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1409 is "much worse" than the oil-for-food program.

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Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said on Sunday that the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1409 is "much worse" than the oil-for-food program.

"The U.N. Resolution 1409 imposes new complexities on the mechanism of the oil-for-food program," Ramadan said in an interview with the state-run Iraqi Satellite Channel.

"This resolution reflects the hatred and hostility of the evil U.S. administration toward the Iraqi people and leadership, and aims at enhancing the embargo and aggression against Iraq," he added.

Ramadan called on the United Nations to lift the decade-old embargo on Iraq and abolish the two no-fly zones set up by the U.S. -led Western allies in northern and southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.

Iraq has been under stringent U.N. embargo since it invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

An an exception to the embargo, the U.N. oil-for-food deal, taking effect as from December 1996, allows Iraq to sell oil and use part of the oil proceeds to buy food, medicine and other basic necessities to offset the impact of the sanctions.

Every contract Iraq signed with other countries under the oil- for-food deal must be vetted and approved by the U.N. Sanctions Committee, in which the United States and Britain are two dominant members.

Iraq has often blasted the inefficiency of the humanitarian deal and blamed the sanctions for the deaths of 1.6 million people, mostly children and the elderly.

To ease international criticism over the sanctions and speed up the cumbersome vetting procedures of the U.N. Sanctions Committee, the United States and Britain drafted a 300-page goods review list.

The list was adopted by the United Nations on Tuesday to allow Iraq freely import civilian goods while tighten the inflow of military or potential military materials to Iraq.

The U.N. Security Council also renewed the oil-for-food deal for another six months till November 25.

Iraq has blasted the latest U.N. resolution but expressed readiness to deal with it, which was regarded a victory for the United States and Britain.

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