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Hi Jennifer, Alexander and others, I can't comment on whether the Iraqi government has spent non-UN funds on electricity, but can agree with Alexander that Baghdad's been the Iraqi government's priority. Further, electricity seems to have been a priority. According to UN figures, as of 1 May, the Iraqi government had budgeted for $4.2 billion of expenditures on the electrical sector, but had actually then initiated contracts for $4.5 billion. Of the $1.6 billion in supplies for this sector to arrive, $1.5 billion had been distributed. As we proceed further into the summer heat, the electrical system can be expected to be subject to more load than it is at present. This will present it with more challenges. On a more optimistic note, the Office of the Iraq Programme's 'note' (http://www.un.org/Depts/oip/background/latest/phaseXI.doc), which replaced the usual Secretary-General's end-of-phase report, mentions that good rainfall has raised waterlevels in the Kurdish dams. This is good news for hydro-electric generation. Those interested in this question might want to see the electricity sector's working group presentation to the Security Council from last year; a version of it is available at http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/casi/info/unelecsecwg011120.pdf. Best, Colin Rowat work | Room 406, Department of Economics | The University of Birmingham | Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK | web.bham.ac.uk/c.rowat | (+44/0) 121 414 3754 | (+44/0) 121 414 7377 (fax) | c.rowat@bham.ac.uk personal | (+44/0) 7768 056 984 (mobile) | (+44/0) 7092 378 517 (fax) | (707) 221 3672 (US fax) | c.rowat@espero.org.uk _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk