§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they can confirm that 4 billion US dollars arising from the oil-for-food programme and earmarked for the benefit of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq is now held in a United Nations-controlled French bank account; and, if this is true or partly true, whether they will seek the immediate release of the money for the purpose for which it is intended. [HL3941]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanUnder the Oil for Food programme set up by UN Security Council Resolution 986 (1995) Iraqi oil revenues were divided between the North of Iraq (13 per cent), the South and Centre of Iraq (59 per cent), the United Nations Compensation Commission (25 per cent), UNMOVIC's operating costs (0.8 per cent) and the Oil for Food Programme's operating costs (2.2 per cent). The revenues spent in North and South/Central Iraq were held in separate accounts. The funds in the Northern account were spent by the United Nations while the funds in the South and Centre account were spent by the Iraqi Government. This was done so that the oil revenue from the whole of Iraq was spent on the whole of Iraq. Had the funds not been divided in this way, Saddam Hussein would have systematically discriminated against the Kurds in the north. The need to keep the two accounts separate disappeared when Saddam Hussein fell. The two accounts were consolidated by UN Security Council Resolution 1483 so that oil revenues from the whole of Iraq could best be spent on the whole of Iraq.
192WAThe consolidated Oil for Food account is held by the French-owned BNP bank and controlled by the UN Treasury. The funds are being spent on Iraq-wide humanitarian contracts that are being assessed according to their utility by the UN and the Coalition Provisonal Authority with Iraqi involvement.
Before the conflict began there were 1.534 billion US dollars of unencumbered funds in the Northern account.