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Iraqi planning minister Dr.Barham Salih on
Iraqi debts and corruption
9.11.2005
By Mina Al-Oraibi
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London, Nov. 8 (Asharq
Al-Awsat) - The Iraqi Minister of Planning, Dr.
Barham Salih, stated that "the UN bears significant
responsibility in the food-for-oil program
corruption scandal," and called for the persons and
companies involved to be tried.
Salih said in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat in
London while on a state visit to the UK with the
regional President of Kurdistan in Iraq, Mas'ud
Barzani, that the problem of corruption in Iraq
still exists and described it as being "a cancer
that is attacking the Iraqi political body." He
demanded that the corruption scandal not be
politicized, stating that this is "corruption in
itself." |
Iraqi planning minister Dr.Barham Salih
Photo: Reuters |
Salih acknowledged that
the Iraqi Government "has not yet studied the
details of the Volker Report but that the report
itself is very important because it sheds light on
the scandalous events surrounding Iraq's resources."
He added, "this program was designed to help Iraqis
but that the maneuverings of the former regime and
the indifference of the UN and even some factions in
the international organization constitute a part of
the regime's dishonest behavior that resulted in
depriving the Iraqi people of these resources and in
the squandering of public funds.
Iraq must be compensated." He called for "the
prosecution of the companies and the parties
responsible for the dissipation of Iraqi public
funds and for the necessity of the Iraqi Government
to take a clear and unequivocal position on the
matter so that we can defend the interests of our
citizens."
Salih announced that he had consulted international
law firms about the prospects of prosecuting those
responsible for the scandal and about the demand for
appropriate compensations. He explained, "from a
legal point of view, international law has been
violated and there have been clear resolutions from
the UN Security Council specifically regarding the
administration of Iraqi funds. The authorities
responsible for this not only bear a moral
responsibility but a financial one also."
Salih is well known for his statement, while serving
as Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister in Iyad Allawi's
government, that corruption in Iraq presents a
problem as significant as that of terrorism. When
asked about this phenomenon he stated emphatically
that "it still exists." He demanded that Iraqi
political factions confront corruption because it is
"a cancer that is attacking the Iraqi political
entity and it will require persistence and
cooperation in dealing with it."
He added that "corruption is sometimes politicized
but this in itself is corruption and leads to its
increase." He advocates leaving the treatment of
corruption outside of the political framework,
noting that there are avenues that may be resorted
to in order to remedy corruption. "There is an
impartial international commission and an
international oversight agency, moreover we shall
have an elected national assembly that will serve
for four years after the upcoming elections and it
will be necessary for the assembly to cooperate with
the international community to fight corruption."
The Iraqi Planning Minister gave details about the
funds allocated to Iraq at the Madrid Donors'
Conference in 2003, saying, "The donations (grants)
did not reach expected levels." He explained that
"the largest portion of the donations (a total of
$32 billion) came from the United States but
unfortunately, the lion's share of that was
apportioned to security measures.
As for the other grants, there has been no
disbursement of the money requested." He added that
some nations give excuses related to the security
situation but in reality, Iraq did not receive what
it had been promised. He continued to state that his
government demanded from "contributing nations at
the Dead Sea Conference that they disburse the
lion's share of these donations to Iraq instead of
funding the administration of projects outside the
country."
Regarding American donations that amounted to some
$20 billion, the Planning Minister said "they were
apportioned to various civil and government projects
and we are in discussions with the American parties
about having Iraqi companies directly carry out
these projects so that the Iraqi economy would have
the majority of these funds, instead of working
through foreign companies." He explained in the
course of the discussion that Iraq is in the process
of discussing the possibility of obtaining more
grants from America.
The Planning Minister said that Iraq was attempting
to persuade neighboring countries to cancel Iraqi
debts since a number of foreign countries have
already done so. He added that "we expect aid and
assistance from these countries for the Iraqi
people; Iraq is indebted to neighboring countries by
$120 billion." He continued, "It would have been
better for these friendly nations have put forth
initiatives to assist Iraq."
Salih spoke about a comprehensive plan devised by
his ministry to conduct a nation-wide census in Iraq
at the beginning of October 2007. He explained that
the census would coincide with the issuance of a
"standardized civilian identity card for every Iraqi
to provide security, economic, and even electoral
statistics." Salih said that the identity card would
use biometrical data and the personal identification
for each Iraqi.
Asharq Alawsat
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