Oil-For-Food Program Extremely Inefficient: Report

The United Nations oil-for-food program has proved to be extremely inefficient and bureaucratic and has failed to alleviate the sufferings of the Iraqi people, a commentary carried by the official Baghdad Observer said Tuesday, December 12.

Due to its inefficiency and bureaucracy, the program has failed to achieve its obvious raison d'etre to ease the hardship of the Iraqi people, let alone improve the living conditions of the Iraqis who have been hit hard by the decade-old UN sanctions, the report said.

Iraq has been under stringent UN sanctions ever since it invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990.

One big problem with the UN oil-for-food deal is the way it was designed and implemented, the report said, adding that any member of the U.N. Sanctions Committee "can veto any contract Iraq signed with other countries at any time without giving any reason."

The veto right has been exclusively used by the US and British representatives at the UN Sanctions Committee, and no other member has ever blocked any purchase of any type since the program was put into effect four years ago, the report said.

Iraq claims that over 1,800 humanitarian contracts which worth 3.2 billion US dollars have been put on hold by the UN Sanctions Committee since the UN oil-for-food program was put into effect in late 1996.

Under the program, Iraq is allowed to export oil and buy UN- monitored imports of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods to offset the impact of the sanctions. Iraq has often criticized the program for failing to meet Iraq's humanitarian needs.

In spite of its complaints, Iraq on Monday formally notified the U.N. of its acceptance of the renewal of the UN humanitarian program.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al-Sahaf said Iraq agreed to extend the oil-for-food program so that "our conduct will not be misinterpreted as non-positive" and that the "ill intentions" of the US and Britain will be disclosed.

The UN Security Council on December 5 extended the program for another six months starting from December 6.

During the next six months, or the ninth phase of the UN program, Iraq is allowed to sell unlimited amount of oil to buy food, medicine and oil equipment.






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