*96100901.NNE
IRAQ POSING PROBLEMS FOR "OIL-FOR-FOOD" PROGRAM
(U.N. still not satisfied with security in Kurdish area) (590)
By Judy Aita
USIA United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- The United Nations said October 9 that the "minimum
conditions" did not yet exist in northern Iraq to begin the
"oil-for-food" program.
Speaking with journalists after a private meeting with the Security
Council, U.N. Undersecretary General Chinmaya Gharekhan said that "we
are not looking for perfect conditions ... but looking for certain
minimum conditions on the ground before starting the process and we
are not satisfied. We are not yet there."
The United Nations held up the start of the so-called "oil-for food"
program outlined by the Security Council in resolution 986 after Iraqi
forces entered the northern Kurdish area in September. The plan, under
which Iraq will be allowed to sell $2,000 million of crude oil over
six months on a renewable basis in order to buy food, medicine and
other humanitarian supplies for Iraqi civilians, calls for U.N.
monitoring of the distribution of supplies.
However, the original plan did not involve U.N. monitoring in the
Kurdish areas because the distribution was to be handled by U.N. and
private aid workers already providing assistance to the Kurds. Since
the incursion by Iraqi forces, aid workers and their local employees
have expressed concern about their safety, their jobs, and whether
they would be able to distribute the much-needed supplies as they see
fit.
Gharekhan said that officials at U.N. headquarters have been holding
talks with Iraq on "the question of safety in the north" to resolve
questions about staff security and freedom of movement.
The staff in the north, the undersecretary said, "feel very unsure
about their position. We have spoken about ... the perceived lack of
security by local staff and ways and means of reassuring local staff
so they can feel comfortable to work."
Diplomats following the issue also said that the U.N. is concerned
about being able to move freely throughout the Kurdish territory now
that Iraqi security forces remain in the area. They point out that
even though the U.N. had a "memorandum of understanding" with Iraq on
the right of U.N. weapons inspectors to travel wherever they deemed
necessary, there have been several instances where U.N. inspections
have been blocked by Iraqi officials.
The U.N. is seeking assurance that Iraqi officials will not block aid
workers or food and medicine shipments in the north, the diplomats
said.
Iraq also wants local staff fired and to approve new staff, Gharekhan
said.
"Why this has to be done I don't know," he said. "It only means a
certain amount of more delay."
"There is a principle of how we handle local staff there. We need to
spell out in detail the precise manner in which the U.N. staff will be
allowed to work there," he said.
Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali "attaches the highest
importance to the implementation of 986" and is working very hard to
get to the stage where he can give the approval for the program to
start, Gharekhan said.
In that spirit, while talks are continuing on the distribution plan
for the north, the U.N. is sending three oil experts to inspect the
oil installations and metering stations so that oil sales can begin
when the situation is cleared up in the north, he said.
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