Iraq is trying to hurry the United Nations on its proposal to allocate one billion euros (880 million dollars) to the Palestinians from UN-controlled Iraqi oil revenues, official newspapers said Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf has sent a message to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and to the Security Council asking for a prompt response to allow the Iraqi government to go ahead with the arrangements, according to the reports.
"Aid for a people fighting for their independence and freedom figures at the top of the list of principles of the UN charter," Sahhaf said in the message.
The Iraqi leadership announced on Saturday it wanted one billion euros to be set aside over one year to support families of Palestinian victims of the uprising against Israel and to provide humanitarian aid to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Iraq has been under sanctions since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
But it is authorized to export crude to finance imports of humanitarian goods under a UN oil-for-food program, launched five years after Kuwait's liberation in the 1991 Gulf War.
The oil revenues held in a UN-controlled escrow account are released only for the humanitarian needs of the 22-million Iraqi population, essential goods for Iraq itself, to pay Gulf War reparations and finance UN operations in Iraq.
Baghdad's oil exports, meanwhile, have been suspended since December 1 following a row with the United Nations over the pricing of Iraqi crude -- BAGHDAD (AFP)
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