Iraq to file lawsuits against those profiting illegally from UN program
International Herald Tribune
June 29, 2008
The Iraqi government said Sunday it will file lawsuits in U.S. courts against companies and individuals who illegally profited from the U.N. oil-for-food program.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the lawsuits will be aimed compensating the people of Iraq for damages suffered from people "who illegitimately profited from this humanitarian program" and the United Nations sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
The humanitarian program was established in 1995 to allow Iraq to sell oil in exchange for food and medicine to ease the suffering of ordinary Iraqis hit by the U.N. sanctions, which continued after a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
Critics say Saddam Hussein's regime and its partners manipulated the program to embezzle millions of dollars through bribes and by inflating prices for commodities purchased under the U.N. program.
Al-Dabbagh's statement, posted on a government Web site, did not say when the lawsuits would be filed and in which courts.
