Iraq has sold more than $33 billion worth of crude oil, or more than two billion barrels, since the beginning of the "oil-for-food" program in 1996, the United Nations said Wednesday.
Iraq also "has exported 173.4 million barrels of oil worth more than $4.27 billion " since the oil-for-food program's eighth phase began in June, a UN statement said.
The oil-for-food program, designed to offset the humanitarian consequences of the 10-year-old embargo on Iraq, lets Baghdad sell oil under UN supervision in exchange for food, medical supplies and other necessities.
In mid-August the director of the UN program, Benon Sevan, called on Iraq and the United Nations to show more flexibility in the application of the program.
Baghdad has frequently complained of delays in the arrival of supplies, which have to be vetted by the UN sanctions committee, and accuses the United States and Britain of blocking its contracts with foreign suppliers. – (AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
