Iraq Accuses U.S., Britain of Blocking ContractsIraqi trade ministry on Thursday lashed out at the United States and Britain for shelving contracts it signed with foreign countries under the fifth, sixth and seventh phases of the U.N. oil-for-food program.In a statement, the trade ministry said that the U.S. and British delegates at the U.N. Sanctions Committee have blocked 17 contracts Iraq signed with other countries to import oil spare parts, electrical equipment and medicines. The ministry said the contracts were signed with Italian, Austrian, Swedish, Belgian, German, French, Egyptian and Jordanian companies. Iraq has repeatedly condemned the U.S. and Britain for impeding the implementation of the humanitarian oil-for-food program by blocking its contracts. Under the program, launched in 1996 and now in its eighth phase, Iraq is allowed to sell limited amount of oil in every six months to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods for its 22-million people reeling under the stringent U.N. sanctions which have been in place since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has acknowledged that the holds of the contract applications have had a direct negative impact on the U.N. oil-for-food program and on the efforts to reconstruct Iraq's infrastructure. |
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