United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday welcomed the Security Council approval of a resolution authorizing him to run the oil-for-food program for the next 45 days.
"I think it augurs well for future tasks ahead of us," Annan said. "We have many challenging questions and I hope we will be able to approach those tasks with the same spirit."
After a week of hard negotiations, the 15-nation council passed the resolution Friday morning to reactivate the oil-for-food program in order to meet the urgent humanitarian needs in war-torn Iraq.
The resolution gives Annan the power to use the funds obtained under the program for the purpose of humanitarian assistance.
The oil-for-food program, which has been in place since December 1996, allows Baghdad to use part of its oil sales to buy relief supplies. The program was suspended after Annan ordered all UN personnel out of Iraq last week ahead of the US-led war on Iraq.
According to UN officials, 60 percent of Iraq's population, or some 14 million people, depend on food and medicine supplies provided under the oil-for-food program.
(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2003)
|
