U.S. investigators have proof that $3 billion that belonged to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's government is being held in Syrian-controlled banks in Syria and Lebanon, the New York Times reported, citing Bush administration officials.
In its Tuesday edition, the paper reported that a team spent nearly two weeks in Damascus trying to gain access to accounts set up by the former Iraqi government or its confederates, according to officials.
Syria, for its part, according to the report, has promised to cooperate, but has thus far failed to do so, the officials said.
A U.N. resolution passed following the U.S-led war against Baghdad urges all nations to seize and return to the U.S.-administered Fund for Development in Iraq all assets of the former Baghdad regime so they may be used to benefit the people of Iraq.
The officials, according to the Times, said the $3 billion, most of it in Syria, was by far the largest American discovery to date of Iraqi money outside Iraqi borders. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
