BAGHDAD
(AFP)--
Iraq
has
told its central bank to open accounts to transfer hundreds of millions of
dollars out of a post-Gulf war
U.S.
fund
to protect the money from foreign claims, a government spokesman said
Wednesday.
The cabinet also asked lawmakers to approve a $400 million compensation package
for
U.S.
victims of toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up a mechanism for United
Nations-mandated war reparations to
Kuwait
, Ali
al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
"The government asked the central bank to immediately open accounts before
May 1 to transfer funds" from the Development Fund for
Iraq
, he
said.
The government approved recommendations "to establish a mechanism to
ensure the protection of the money deposited out of
Iraq
,"
Dabbagh said. The statement, released Wednesday, came a day after the cabinet
meeting.
The DFI, which was set up after the 2003 war to handle oil and other revenues,
has been protected against claims by a U.N. resolution that expires on June 30.
Dabbagh also said that the cabinet called on the central bank to formulate a
"specific and transparent" mechanism to calculate payments to
Kuwait
.
Under U.N. resolution 1956,
Iraq
is
required to pay five percent of its oil income to
Kuwait
for
reparations stemming from Saddam's 1990 invasion of the neighboring Gulf
emirate.
The request for parliamentary approval for the $400 million package, meanwhile,
came after
Iraq
reached
agreement with
Washington
over
the amount in September, with the money meant for Americans who say they were
mistreated by Saddam during the Gulf war.
Iraq
's
Aug. 2, 1990
assault on
Kuwait
was
rapidly met with a concerted international military response that pushed
Saddam's forces out of the emirate and eventually ended in his ouster by a
U.S.-led coalition in 2003.
Several
U.S.
citizens were held by Saddam's regime during the war over
Kuwait
and
used as human shields to deter coalition attacks, with some claiming they were
mistreated and tortured by Saddam's forces.
"
Iraq
is
keen to fulfill international obligations and to put an end to the results of
previous policies," Dabbagh said.