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21:05 GMT
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 16 (KUNA) -- Iraq urged the Security Council to extend
until December 31st, 2010 arrangements to deposit proceeds from oil and gas
sales into the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), and to supervise it during the
same period by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), with
the possibility of reviewing those arrangements, at the request of Baghdad,
before mid-June 2010.
The council is scheduled to discuss a draft resolution, under chapter VII,
on this issue tomorrow Thursday. A vote is scheduled for next Monday.
In a letter to the Security Council President, Burkina Faso, circulated
today, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki vowed that the government will in
2010 make "appropriate arrangement" for the Fund and the Board with a view to
"ensuring that oil revenue continues to be used fairly and in the interest of
the Iraqi people," in conformity with the Constitution and with the
international "best practices with respect to transparency, accountability and
integrity."
That, he argued, "cannot be achieved without the continued assistance of
the international community by means of the adoption of a Security Council
resolution whereby the conditions and arrangements provided for in resolution
1859 of last year are extended."
Expressing his government's commitment to finding a satisfactory solution
to the problem of the debts and claims that it inherited from the previous
regime, Al-Maliki recalled that during 2009, the government made "great
progress" in settling many debts and claims, including by concluding
agreements on the reduction of sovereign debt and other bilateral agreements
concerning certain claims.
Asked whether Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari is coming to New York
to attend the vote in the council on Monday, Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Hamid
Al-Bayati told KUNA in an interview that Zebari came in the past because the
extension of those mandates "required a lot of discussions in the council. But
this year, it is different. No discussions are needed. It will be a mere
extension of the mandates."
He did not rule out that he would come anyway.
Asked whether the terrorist attacks that hit Baghdad last August, October
and December will also be on his schedule, Al-Bayati said once in New York,
Zibari will discuss all issues relating to Iraq.
He expressed hope that the UN will exert more effort and take further
measures to deal with these attacks, recalling that the first step was when
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dispatched his Assistant for Political Affairs
Oscar Fernandez-Taranco for preliminary talks in Baghdad.
"Unfortunately, the attacks continued after he came back and briefed the
Secretary-General. Our hope is that the UN takes other steps towards helping
Iraq," he said.
Asked what kind of measures he had in mind, Al-Bayati said "the UN and the
Secretay-General can do a lot of things, such as setting up an investigation
commission to look into the evidence gathered by Iraq," recalling the
commissions the UN set up for the massacres in Guinea earlier this year and
those to investigate the assassinations of former Lebanese and Pakistani Prime
Ministers Rafiq Hariri and Benazir Bhutto.
"The bloodshed is unacceptable and has to stop. The Iraqi Government has
the responsibility to protect its people and prevent such attacks. We feel
that the UN has to do something," he said.
Once the commission finds out who the perpetrators are, the Security
Council can set up a tribunal to try them, he said. (end)
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