Iraq Oil Assets May Be at Risk of Seizure as UN Mandate Expires
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The expiration today of United Nations protection of Iraq’s oil revenue from creditors seeking damages stemming from Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait may make the assets vulnerable to seizure, exacerbating tensions between the two countries.
The Security Council voted in December to allow expiration of UN oversight and immunity for oil revenue deposited in the Development Fund for Iraq, created in 2003 to pay off debts incurred by the Hussein regime. Iraq, which holds the world’s fifth-largest crude reserves, will continue to pay 5 percent of its oil revenue to Kuwait as compensation for damages, including the theft of 10 Kuwaiti aircraft by Hussein.