Assistance to the Palestinian people – Letter from Iraq

Letter dated 10 December 2000 from the Permanent Representative of Iraq

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

On instructions from my Government and further to our letter to you dated 26 November 2000 (S/2000/1119), I have the honour to transmit herewith a letter dated 10 December 2000, in which Mr. Mohammed Said Al-Sahaf, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, informs you that the Iraqi political leadership has decided to set aside a billion euros from Iraq’s oil revenue under the memorandum of understanding, to be allocated to the Palestinian people, and requests the Security Council to take the necessary action on this request urgently.

I should be grateful if you would have this letter and its annex brought to the attention of the Security Council.

(Signed) Saeed H. Hasan

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

Annex to the identical letters dated 10 December 2000 from

the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations addressed

to the Secretary-General and to the President of the Security Council

In my letter dated 26 November 2000, I officially expressed Iraq’s support for the intifada of the fraternal Palestinian people against the Zionist and colonialist occupiers, who are committing all sorts of criminal attacks and acts of physical liquidation against the Palestinian people as it perseveres in its struggle.

So as to translate into action the Iraqi people’s support for the valiant Palestinian people, my aforementioned letter formally transmitted the request from the Government of the Republic of Iraq to include the requirements of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory among the requirements of our people in Iraq with regard to food, medicine and other essentials, by allocating some of the oil revenue under the memorandum of understanding signed by Iraq and the United Nations on 20 May 1996 to the Palestinian people, in order to support its patriotism and nationalism, for it is entitled to a portion of the financial resources of the Iraqi people in order to defend its territory, in accordance with the principles of the Charter the United Nations.

As a tangible expression of the support of the Iraqi leadership and people to which I referred in my letter of 26 November 2000, I have the honour to notify you formally that the Revolution Command Council and the National Command of the Arab Baath Socialist Party, the two supreme constitutional and political organs in the Republic of Iraq, decided at a joint meeting on 9 December 2000 to allocate a billion euros over a one-year period from the proceeds of oil exports under the memorandum of understanding.

Out of that amount, 300 million euros will be allocated to the families of martyrs, to those injured during the intifada and to those whose property was damaged by the Zionist aggressors. The remainder (700 million euros) will be used to purchase food, medicine and other essentials for the struggling Palestinian people, on the same basis as for the fraternal Iraqi people.

In giving you this formal notification of the decision by the Iraqi political leadership to allocate a billion euros to support the Palestinian people during its extremely difficult ordeal, I urge you to take a positive approach by supporting Iraq’s decision to request inclusion of the Palestinian people’s requirements with regard to food, medicine and other essentials among the Iraqi people’s requirements, inasmuch as relief and support for a people struggling for its independence and freedom are fully consistent with the objectives of the Charter of the United Nations and with your mission as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

We look forward to a favourable response from you so that the Iraqi Government may urgently take the necessary measures, including the preparation of a procurement and distribution plan, the signing of the necessary contracts to address the needs of the fraternal Palestinian people, and the transfer of financial aid for the families of the martyrs, those injured during the intifada and all the victims of Zionist aggression, as indicated in our letter.

(Signed) Mohammed Said Al-Sahaf

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq