Iraq Condemns US, Britain for Maintaining SanctionsIraq on Monday condemned the United States and Britain for vehemently keeping in place the decade-old UN sanctions, imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al-Sahaf said that when the UN oil-for-food program was first launched in late 1996, it was supposed to be "temporary and for six months only." However, the US and Britain have been trying to use the UN deal as an alternative for the total lifting of the sanctions, Al- Sahaf said. The U.S. and Britain are still insisting on the continuation of the "unjust" sanctions, which have entered the 11th year, the longest in the U.N. history, Al-Sahaf said. Iraq claims that it has fulfilled all relevant UN resolutions and demands the total lifting of the sanctions. Iraq has agreed to extend the UN oil-for-food program for another six months so that "our conduct will not be misinterpreted as non-positive" and that the "ill intentions" of the US and Britain will be disclosed, said the Iraqi official. The U.N. Security Council on December 5 agreed to extend the UN oil-for-food program for another six months starting from December 6. The U.N. humanitarian deal, now in its ninth phase, allows Iraq to sell unlimited amount of oil to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods to offset the impacts of the sanctions. |
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