The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
There are two reports here - one from Associated Press and one from Reuters. ########################################################################## UN's Iraq Relief Coordinator Leaves Wednesday, July 22, 1998; 3:42 p.m. EDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Denis J. Halliday, the U.N. relief coordinator for Iraq who criticized U.N. sanctions and pushed to get more humanitarian aid for Iraqis, is leaving his post at the end of September. A statement issued by his spokesman said Halliday was leaving for personal reasons. But those reasons probably include his dissatisfaction with the relief effort and the sanctions program, said the spokesman, Eric Falt. A successor has not been named. Halliday, of Ireland, took over as the humanitarian coordinator in Iraq last September. He replaced Staffan de Mistura, a Swede, in handling the distribution network of the U.N. oil-for-food program. The program allows Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods. Halliday was one of the strongest U.N. advocates of increasing aid to Iraqis, sometimes citing malnutrition reports. His lobbying helped result in the Security Council increasing the amount of oil Iraq can sell over six months to $5.2 billion, up from about $2 billion. Halliday also repeatedly expressed concern about U.N. delays in approving Iraqi oil contracts because it delayed the delivery of needed food, medicine and other goods. Iraq has been barred from selling oil on the open market since U.N. sanctions were imposed following Baghdad's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Halliday said in Baghdad in February that he opposed the sanctions because of their ``devastating impact on the small people.'' ``None of the (U.N.) member states intended that the sanctions program would be so harsh on individual Iraqis,'' he said. ) Copyright 1998 The Associated Press ############################################################################# Source: Reuters Date: 22 Jul 1998 United Nations - Irish aid coordination quits relief job in Iraq Denis Halliday, the high-profile U.N. coordinator of the Iraqi oil-for-food program, has decided to resign from his post in September, U.N. officials reported. Halliday, a development expert currently on leave in his native Ireland, said through a spokesman on Tuesday that he was "winding up for personal reasons at the end of September." He began the job last September 1. Credited with injecting momentum into the relief program, Halliday was said to be frustrated with constraints from the U.N. Security Council and other U.N. officials. He is also known to be in favor of lifting sanctions against Iraq as soon as possible. The oil-for-food program allows Iraq to sell oil to buy necessary humanitarian supplies to offset the impact on ordinary Iraqis of the sanctions imposed eight years ago when Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait. The program raised in June the amount of oil Iraq can sell every six months to $5.35 billion. Halliday, 57, an assistant secretary-general, is the fourth coordinator of the Iraqi program since the operation began in December 1996 and received more support than his predecessor from relief workers on the ground in Iraq. He had been outspoken about the weaknesses of the plan and clashed with his new boss, Benon Sevan, the New York-based executive director of the program who was appointed in October. Sources close to Halliday as well as Sevan said Sevan did not take any steps to remove Halliday from his post. Halliday, who has to deal with numerous U.N. aid agencies and their directors around the world, had been a champion for a better deal for the Iraqis in the oil-for-food program. In December he sharply criticized Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a letter for not asking more forcefully for improvements in the programs. He wanted Iraqi oil sales doubled, a move Annan recommended a few months later and the Security Council then approved. He also objected to delays in the Security Council's sanctions committee and problems U.N. agencies encountered in procuring supplies. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT the whole list. Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html