Text of a report of the news conference carried by the Iraqi news agency INA

Baghdad, 21st December: Trade Minister Dr Mohammed Mehdi Saleh today announced that Iraq and the United Nations have successfully worked out a distribution plan for the third stage of the Memorandum of Understanding.

At a news conference this morning attended by correspondents for Arab and foreign television networks, news agencies and newspapers, as well as INA, Dr Mohammed Mehdi Saleh said that the distribution plan will be submitted to the UN secretary-general within the next few days. He added that Iraq will resume oil pumping once the new distribution plan is approved.

The trade minister said that the new food distribution plan is not any different from the previous one in terms of its articles and the amount of money involved. The same applies to the distribution of medicine, with specific emphasis on special medical equipment for hospitals.

Mohammed Mehdi Saleh once again denied the US State Department spokesman's allegations that Iraq rejected 100m US dollars-worth of contracts to import foodstuff and medicine in accordance with the formula on the exchange of oil for food, medicine and other basic needs. He said that such allegations are untrue.

Explaining the situation, Saleh said: The Trade Ministry signed contracts worth 89m US dollars during the second stage. In other words, the overall value of contracts amounts to 995m US dollars, while - according to the distribution plan - the money originally allocated for them was 906m US dollars.

The trade minister said: From our experience in the implementation of the first stage of the Memorandum of Understanding, we were forced to sign additional contracts with a 10 per cent increase on the overall value of contracts in order to avoid wasting time and to redress the needs of the Iraqi people whenever the 661 Sanctions Committee cancelled or suspended Iraqi contracts.

We also took into account the interest value of accumulated sums of money during the first stage.

Memorandum of Understanding has not eased suffering of Iraqi people

The trade minister said that one third of the 2bn US dollars designated for purchasing food, medicine and other basic needs for six months goes to pay for the United Nations, the [UN] Special Commission and compensations.

Some 1.3bn US dollars is left for the distribution plan. He added that the Memorandum of Understanding has succeeded in funding the United Nations and the special commission, but failed to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people.

The trade minister said that Iraq did not ask for an increase in oil quantities during the third stage because it realizes that no increase will meet the basic needs of the Iraqi people.

Mohammed Mehdi Saleh said that it was unlikely that there would be any improvement in the implementation of the third stage of the Memorandum of Understanding unless the 661 Committee alters its behaviour and stops delaying, suspending and cancelling contracts.

Concerning the items Iraq has received since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding - other than food and medicine - the minister said that Iraq has not received any supplies or equipment for the electricity and agriculture sectors and for water purification, primary and higher education, and the Baghdad Municipality.

He noted that Iraq received only 17 per cent of the medicine for which it had signed contracts, which equals 36m US dollars-worth of the original 210m US dollars allocated for this sector. He added: We have asked the United Nations to carry forward all contracts for which there was no money in the second stage to the third stage.

Answering a question on the number of countries that are seeking to resume their trade relations with Iraq, either within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding or outside it, the trade minister said: Most European and Asian countries, Russia, South America and all Arab countries, except for two or three, have expressed a desire to resume trade cooperation with Iraq.

Concerning resuming trade cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, the trade minister said that Iraq and the United Arab Emirates have finalized the necessary measures by preparing the maritime means of transport between the two sides.

Says relations with Jordan "firm and strong"

On Iraq's relations with Jordan, Dr Mohammed Mehdi Saleh said they are firm and strong relations and that trade with Jordan will increase in the third stage of the Memorandum of Understanding. He said that Iraq plans to expand its use of the Jordanian port of Aqabah for its food imports.

The trade minister said that a cut in the volume of Iraqi-Turkish trade exchange was unlikely. He hoped that Turkey would go back on its hostile schemes towards Iraq, which it implements under pressure from the US administration. This, he said, has shaken stability in the region creating a security vacuum in northern Iraq and southern Turkey.

In his news conference, the trade minister also spoke about relations with Syria. He said: Iraq has a plan to expand trade ties with Syria.

Asked about relations with Iran, he said: General indications are that there is a possibility for activating trade cooperation with Iran.

Regarding the situation in northern Iraq and the distribution plan, Mohammed Mehdi Saleh accused the United States of proposing greater or lesser quantities of food for our Kurdish people than those specified in the Memorandum of Understanding in an attempt to give the world the impression that northern Iraq is separate from the rest of the country.

He said that all Arabs and foreigners residing in Iraq are receiving the same shares as the Iraqi citizens.

Source: INA news agency, Baghdad, in Arabic 0828 gmt 21 Dec 97

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
 

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