Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 28. december 2004 / Time Line December 28, 2004
Version 3.527. December 2004, 29. December 2004
12/28/2004
Iraqi food funds sent to Lebanese banks
By Nicolas Pelham in Amman
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/05c21ab8-5913-11d9-89a5-00000e2511c8,ft_acl=,s01=1.html
Iraq's trade ministry has transferred hundreds of millions of
dollars earmarked for the country's food rations into two Lebanese
banks, raising concern about lack of transparency. “The
ministry of trade is trying to revive [the] system as under Saddam
Hussein, with the same people, the same banks and the same
companies,” said a senior Iraqi finance official who asked
not to be named. The transfers, worth about $400m (€294m,
£206m), represent a substantial share of Iraq's $2.8bn annual
food budget. They come amid fears of food shortages as the country
prepares for next month's polls.
The US Agency for International Development's food officer in
Baghdad said he expected shortages in food rations, on which the
United Nations claims 60 per cent of the population depends.
Mohammed Jibouri, Iraq's trade minister, said he had transferred
“nearly $400m” to the Lebanese banks, bypassing the
Trade Bank, the state-controlled bank established by the US-led
administration last year. He said the Trade Bank was taking too
long to issue letters of credit for food purchases before the holy
month of Ramadan.
“The only reason behind the transfer was time,” Mr
Jibouri insisted. “They [the Trade Bank] had a manual, not an
electronic [transfer] system. The Lebanese banks were
quicker.”
The trade ministry deposited the funds with Fransabank, chaired by
Lebanon's economy minister, Adnan Kassar, and al-Mawarid. They had
both been used during the UN's oil-for-food programme, said Iraqi
finance officials. Lebanese bankers said they were both favoured
for their secrecy.
12/28/2004
Thousands of Fallujah residents return to devastation
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
http://www.arabmediawatch.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2307
Residents of Fallujah, devastated by a heavy US-led attack in
November, are gradually beginning to return to their homes. But for
the vast majority there is little left to go back to.
Since getting the go-ahead from coalition forces on 23 December to
return to the city, nearly 4,000 residents who were displaced by
the fighting have returned to their homes.
But these numbers are tiny compared with the total pre-attack
population of almost 300,000, the majority of whom fled before the
fighting began on 8 November. Many other families have returned to
check their houses only to leave again after finding that they had
been destroyed.
"Fallujah is nothing but destruction and empty areas. It's a new
desert inside Iraq. Those who have returned to their homes in the
past few days lack the minimum conditions - the city is
uninhabitable," said Fadhel Kubaissy, a resident who returned home
but left again with his family after finding his house in
ruins.
The Minister of Security, Kassim Daoud, told IRIN that people were
insisting on returning to their homes even with ongoing clashes in
the city, which lies 60 km west of Baghdad, and unexploded
ordinance (UXOs) in the streets.
 |
 |