§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his letter to the hon. Member for Linlithgow of 9 March, if he will examine the UN's procedures in relation to the distribution of medical goods to meet humanitarian needs which have arrived in Iraq since the end of 1996; and what assessment he has made of the memorandum from the Under Secretary of the Iraqi Foreign Office on this subject, a copy of which has been sent to him. [76781]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 15 March 1999]: According to the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Iraq and the United Nations on implementation of the "oil for food" programme, it is Iraq, not the UN, which is responsible for the distribution of medical supplies in central and southern Iraq. Iraq's record on distribution is woeful. According to the UN Secretary General's latest report of 22 February on the implementation of "oil for food", over half the medicines and medical supplies which have arrived in Iraq since the start of the "oil for food" programme have accumulated in warehouses. These supplies are worth over $275 million. The Secretary General also noted that the quantity of medical equipment in warehouses was "alarmingly high".
This issue is one which will no doubt be considered by the panel established by the UN Security Council on 30 January to assess the humanitarian situation in Iraq. We would support proposals from the panel to increase the role of the UN in distributing medical supplies in central and southern Iraq in the interest of getting these supplies to the Iraqi people.
It should be noted that in the northern governorates, where distribution is carried out by UN agencies, no problems in the distribution of medical goods were noted in the Secretary General's report.
The Iraqi Memorandum is an unconvincing attempt by Iraq to divert responsibility for the distribution problems in the centre and south onto others.