With Security Council approval, Morocco flies humanitarian supplies to Iraq
3 October -- After receiving a green light from the Security Council committee monitoring the sanctions against Iraq, a Moroccan plane carrying humanitarian supplies landed in Baghdad today.
"Morocco, which is the third Arab country to have flown into Iraq in recent weeks, notified the committee over the weekend and delayed sending the flight until the committee met yesterday," spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York.
Meanwhile, the UN released new statistics today on its "oil-for-food" scheme, which allows Baghdad to sell its petroleum and use part of the proceeds to purchase humanitarian supplies. Over the past week, Iraq exported 15.1 million barrels of oil at market value, earning an estimated $367 million.
According to the Office of the Iraq Programme, which oversees the UN's humanitarian effort in the country, the total value of contracts put on hold by the sanctions committee now stands at $2.14 billion. In many cases, the Committee cited the lack of technical specifications as a reason for placing the contract on hold.
A number of holds were released this week after technical information was provided, including two contracts for oil tankers, two contracts for sprinkler irrigation systems, one contract for valves and a contract for trucks.
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