AP ARABNEWS
Friday 27 July 2012

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Compensation Commission that settles damage claims from victims of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait on Thursday approved $1.3 billion for six successful claimants.

The Geneva-based UN Compensation Commission is funded by a 5 percent tax on the export of Iraqi oil, as determined by the UN Security Council in 2003.

Thursday’s payments were made to four individuals, a corporation and a government or international organization, none of which were identified in the UNCC’s announcement.

The agency has now paid out a total of $37.7 billion for more than 1.5 million successful claims by individuals, corporations, governments and international organizations, the statement said.

The Commission was established in 1991 by the UN Security Council. It has received nearly 3 million claims, from nearly 100 governments for themselves, their nationals or their corporations.

NOTE BY THE EDITOR: Mmmmm … 37.7 billion dollar pay-out and all confidential and secret … I think some transparency would be in order. The danger that corruption and political connections play a large role is huge. What about claims from individuals who lost a leg through American bombings? and other ‘collateral damage’? This all seems a bit ‘strange’… Iraq has oil, so let them pay (The US has a printing press, so they could pay too)…