Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
Iraq will not renew accord on UN's oil-for-food programme.
UN News Service 22 November 1999
Iraq has notified the United Nations that it will not sign an extension of the agreement which sets out arrangements for implementing the UN's humanitarian oil-for-food programme, a UN spokesman reported today.
"Iraq appears to be expressing dissatisfaction with the two-week rollover of the oil-for-food programme adopted by the Security Council on Friday," Spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
Independent oil experts working for the UN reported that early this morning Iraq cut the supply of oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan as shipments under oil contracts signed under the current Phase VI of the humanitarian programme were completed. Iraq is expected to do the same on shipments out of Mina al Bakr when the last contracts are filled tomorrow, Mr. Eckhard said.
The Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, Benon Sevan, informed the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, Hans von Sponeck, that normal operations should continue unless the Government of Iraq submits an official request to the contrary, the Spokesman said.
On Saturday, Iraq orally informed the UN that it would not renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) governing the Council's oil-for-food programme. The MOU contains provisions for the presence and operations of UN staff in Iraq and contractors employed by the UN and is normally extended through an exchange of letters shortly after the Council extends the programme.
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