UN approves adjusted oil-for-aid program; oil export mechanism unsettled

The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution adjusting the suspended oil-for-aid program to give UN Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan more authority to administer food and supplies to Iraq over the next 45 days.

March 28, 2003

2 min read

By OGJ editors
WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 28 -- The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution adjusting the suspended oil-for-aid program to give UN Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan more authority to administer food and supplies to Iraq over the next 45 days.

However, the Security Council vote does not address how new or existing oil export and maintenance contracts should be handled. When exports from Iraq's
Mina al-Bakr port in the Persian Gulf resume, US officials want to use revenues from that oil to finance infrastructure repairs. Meanwhile, some UN members, such as Russia and France, say that the UN, not the US, should oversee reconstruction; otherwise, US companies could have an unfair advantage.

UN officials temporarily stopped the assistance program Mar. 17, a few days before US and British forces began military action against Baghdad. The UN said the oil-for-aid program is the sole source of sustenance for 60% of the country's 27 million people.

"Today's resolution authorizes the Secretary-General to reassess the contracts that have been approved, and covers technical issues such as providing alternative locations for the delivery of supplies," UN officials said. Annan also has the power to negotiate new contracts for essential medical items.

The council's action allows Annan to disperse about $10 billion in humanitarian goods Iraq ordered before the conflict began that was already approved. UN officials said they are not sure when conditions will allow them to enter the country to make those deliveries, however.

The UN's World Food Program estimates that the majority of Iraqis will exhaust their food reserves by May. WFP says it is planning to support a food distribution system capable of meeting the needs of the entire population.

Meanwhile, coalition military officials said it might take as long as 3 months for Iraq's southern oil fields to start exporting crude again. Analysts speculated such a delay might stem from concerns that pumping stations and pipeline may have been sabotaged.