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Iraq Says UN Must Reduce Reparations Paid from Oil
Tue, May 18, 2004 By Khaled Yacoub Oweis BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi delegation will travel to the United Nations on Wednesday to demand full control of the countryâs oil revenues and a cut in war reparations imposed on Iraq. "Iraq must have a say in the next U.N. resolution," Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Bayati told Reuters on Tuesday. "We will negotiate on the basis that Iraq must be fully in charge of its resource wealth and the five percent of oil revenues we pay must be reduced further," he said in reference to reparations for the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iraq has paid around $20 billion of reparations of an estimated $300 billion. A U.N. resolution a year ago reduced war reparations from 15 percent of oil proceeds to five percent. Bayati said Iraq should not be held accountable now for wars waged by Saddam Hussein in which the people had no say and for which they suffered and had paid enough already. Horseradish! Why should the remaining world foot the bill for Saddamâs thuggery? Iraq can be bled white for all I care. It will serve to discourage them from ever again considering any sort of regional aggression. Furthermore, Iâd like to see some repayment of the United States for our costly campaign to liberate these sniveling ingrates. "Iraq seeks to cancel debt and reparations incurred by Saddam. The next sovereign government will be under domestic pressure to do the same," Bayati said six weeks before the U.S.-led occupiers are due to hand over formal sovereignty. Iraqi officials say the reparations, estimated to be largely owed to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, are unfair. They say these countries benefited by producing more oil when Iraq was prohibited from exporting any from 1990 to 1996 under an economic embargo. Ainât free market economics a b!tch? Iraq exported 3.2 million barrels per day before the 1990 Gulf War, but exports are now down to 1.8 million bpd as the crippling embargo limited the countryâs ability to maintain the infrastructure. Under last yearâs U.N resolution, Iraqâs oil revenues are deposited in a Federal Reserve Bank of New York account controlled by the United States. This structure may need to be retained for a longer period until Iraq demonstrates the capacity for responsible leadership. The next Iraqi government is expected to have control of expenditures, but U.S. officials want an international board monitoring the accounts to remain in place. Iraqi crude oil sales since last yearâs U.S.-led invasion reached more than $9 billion, which were deposited in the Development Fund for Iraq. Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-18 |
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