Uday Saddam Hussein, eldest son of the Iraqi leader, has warned against imports of Israeli goods through Russian middlemen, in a report to parliament that was published on Thursday. Uday urged the commerce ministry to vet the suppliers of sanctions-hit Iraq under the UN oil-for-food program.
"Several Russian companies operate for US or British firms that are boycotted by Iraq, and some are even financed by Jewish businessmen or traders in goods from the Zionist entity," he said, in the report carried in Babel, a paper run by Uday.
The report submitted to parliament at the end of December accuses the commerce ministry of importing "low quality ... or rotting goods" for the rationing system in force since UN sanctions were imposed for Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Iraq is authorized to export crude under UN supervision to finance imports of essential goods for its 22-million population. — (AFP, Baghdad)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
