24 November 1998
UN SECURITY COUNCIL RENEWS IRAQI OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM
(US calls program very important for Iraqi people) (620) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- The UN Security Council November 24 unanimously agreed to renew the so-called "oil-for-food" plan which allows Iraq to sell more than $5,000 million in oil over the next six months to buy food and other humanitarian goods for Iraqi civilians. The Council adopted the resolution 15-0 extending the plan without debate. It also included an allowance of $300 million for spare parts and other material needed to rebuild Iraq's oil industry to enable it to export the $5,256 million worth of oil in the six-month period. The program was originally proposed by the United States and Great Britain as an exemption to the strict economic sanctions imposed on Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 to help the suffering Iraqi people. The program is run under the strict supervision of the United Nations. While Iraq is responsible for the distribution of the food and medical supplies in the central and southern part of the country, UN monitors ensure that the supplies reach those in need. The UN administers the program in the northern Kurdish provinces. After Iraq rejected the plan for several years, it finally began in December 1996. In February 1998 the amount of oil Iraq was allowed to sell was increased from $2,000 million to $5,256 million to ensure that the supplies were enough to meet the essential needs of Iraqi civilians. US Ambassador Peter Burleigh said that the vote was "a very important step by the Council because that program focuses attention on the humanitarian needs of the people of Iraq." Talking with reporters after the Council meeting, Burleigh noted that at times the program was controversial with questions raised about the efficiency and orderliness of the program and whether or not it was meeting the basic needs of the people of Iraq that it was set up to address. "There has been a major improvement in the implementation of the program over the past year and I want to go on the record as US ambassador here to acknowledge and thank with appreciation the very impressive work that the Office of the Iraq Program here at the United Nations -- which is headed by Mr. Benon Sevon -- has been able to accomplish in the last year," Burleigh said. "There are still problems with regard to the delivery to those who are supposed to benefit from the program including the disadvantaged in Iraq," the ambassador noted. "Those problems are almost entirely now the responsibility of the Government of Iraq having to do with problems in implementation of the program." "The UN side of the matter is operating in a much more efficient and regular manner compared to a year and a half or two ago when the program was new," he said. "This is a huge program. It authorizes ($5,200 million) of oil exports every six months. Because of the price of oil and the state of the Iraqi oil industry that level hasn't been reached -- something around $3 billion or so has been reached," Burleigh said. "The next step will be that the (UN) Office of Iraq Program will be in touch with the Government of Iraq to explore that question. The interest on the Security Council side...is to have a smooth and routinely functioning program so there is a constant flow of services and delivery of goods to the people of Iraq," the ambassador added. In its resolution the Council asked Secretary General Kofi Annan to report in three months whether there is "equitable distribution of medicine, health supplies, foodstuffs and materials for essential civilian needs."
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