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IRAQ POSING PROBLEMS FOR "OIL-FOR-FOOD" PROGRAM



(U.N. still not satisfied with security in Kurdish area) (590)

By Judy Aita

USIA United Nations Correspondent



United Nations -- The United Nations said October 9 that the "minimum

conditions" did not yet exist in northern Iraq to begin the

"oil-for-food" program.



Speaking with journalists after a private meeting with the Security

Council, U.N. Undersecretary General Chinmaya Gharekhan said that "we

are not looking for perfect conditions ... but looking for certain

minimum conditions on the ground before starting the process and we

are not satisfied. We are not yet there."



The United Nations held up the start of the so-called "oil-for food"

program outlined by the Security Council in resolution 986 after Iraqi

forces entered the northern Kurdish area in September. The plan, under

which Iraq will be allowed to sell $2,000 million of crude oil over

six months on a renewable basis in order to buy food, medicine and

other humanitarian supplies for Iraqi civilians, calls for U.N.

monitoring of the distribution of supplies.



However, the original plan did not involve U.N. monitoring in the

Kurdish areas because the distribution was to be handled by U.N. and

private aid workers already providing assistance to the Kurds. Since

the incursion by Iraqi forces, aid workers and their local employees

have expressed concern about their safety, their jobs, and whether

they would be able to distribute the much-needed supplies as they see

fit.



Gharekhan said that officials at U.N. headquarters have been holding

talks with Iraq on "the question of safety in the north" to resolve

questions about staff security and freedom of movement.



The staff in the north, the undersecretary said, "feel very unsure

about their position. We have spoken about ... the perceived lack of

security by local staff and ways and means of reassuring local staff

so they can feel comfortable to work."



Diplomats following the issue also said that the U.N. is concerned

about being able to move freely throughout the Kurdish territory now

that Iraqi security forces remain in the area. They point out that

even though the U.N. had a "memorandum of understanding" with Iraq on

the right of U.N. weapons inspectors to travel wherever they deemed

necessary, there have been several instances where U.N. inspections

have been blocked by Iraqi officials.



The U.N. is seeking assurance that Iraqi officials will not block aid

workers or food and medicine shipments in the north, the diplomats

said.



Iraq also wants local staff fired and to approve new staff, Gharekhan

said.



"Why this has to be done I don't know," he said. "It only means a

certain amount of more delay."



"There is a principle of how we handle local staff there. We need to

spell out in detail the precise manner in which the U.N. staff will be

allowed to work there," he said.



Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali "attaches the highest

importance to the implementation of 986" and is working very hard to

get to the stage where he can give the approval for the program to

start, Gharekhan said.



In that spirit, while talks are continuing on the distribution plan

for the north, the U.N. is sending three oil experts to inspect the

oil installations and metering stations so that oil sales can begin

when the situation is cleared up in the north, he said.

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