'Broke' Iraq too poor to pay UN
By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK - Iraq's US-installed interim government, which is planning to spend about US$2 billion on its military this year, has declared it is too poor to pay the $14.6 million it owes the United Nations.
"Iraq was not in a position to pay what it owed to the United Nations, although it hopes to do so next year, when oil production has increased," the interim government says in a letter to the UN Committee on Contributions, transmitted through the Iraqi mission to the UN.
The committee has accepted the argument that the government in Baghdad is unable to pay the accumulated arrears because of "the devastation wrought
by more than two decades of war and the effects of a decade of international sanctions."
"The argument is ridiculous, to say the least," a UN official told Inter Press Service (IPS), speaking on condition of anonymity. "The former Coalition Provisional Authority, which is now being accused of misspending hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraq's oil revenues, did not think it fit to pay the country's UN dues, even while it was pleading for UN assistance to help the reconstruction of Iraq," he added.
The letter also says that living standards in Iraq have fallen sharply and the country faces a high level of unemployment. "Although Iraq has enormous potential, with large oil reserves, hydroelectric potential and a skilled population, the immediate problems of reconstruction are vast."
Additionally, the letter says the country has been saddled by the Saddam regime with external debts amounting to about $120 billion.
(more)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FH07Ak02.html
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