Iraq: United Nations transfer millions of dollars to Iraq
08 February 2008 (Iraq Directory)
United Nations transferred $161 million from the “oil-for-food” program, which imposed by the international organization aimed at securing the sale of Iraqi oil for food supplies in the era of the late President Saddam Hussein but it was suspended, to Iraq to be within the budget of the development program, as announced on Monday by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations said that the organization will keep on transferring the funds to the Development Fund in Iraq while it continues to terminate the program which was dominated by corruption.
He said that there are 210 credit transfers unpaid since the end of 2007 valued at more than $656 million, urging Iraqi ministries to liquidate their accounts before the end of March next, so that the working groups of the two parties could hold their meetings; however, the organization will reserve $187 million in addition to the balance of $225 million in the accounts of the program, pending resolution of all unsolved issues in this regard.
It is noteworthy that the Independent Inquiry Committee of the United Nations, headed by the American former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, accused in October 27, 2005, over 2200 companies from 40 countries of conspiring with the former Iraqi regime and reaped approximately $1.8 billion illegally from the program.