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Syria says it has Iraqi funds and is discussing their return
Damascus, Oct 26: Syrian banks are holding Iraqi assets, and their return to Iraqi control is under discussion, Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam said.
Damascus, Oct 26: Syrian banks are holding Iraqi
assets, and their return to Iraqi control is under discussion,
Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam said.
Khaddam's remark broke ground as earlier this month Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bushra Kanafani denied US reports that Syria had millions of Dollars worth of Iraqi money.
Kanafani dismissed as "baseless" press reports that Syrian and Lebanese banks were holding up to USD three billion worth of assets from the regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. She spoke to reporters on October 11.
Ten days later, however, an official of the US embassy in Damascus said Syria was cooperating with the United States to see whether its banks hold any such assets.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that an American team was in Syria to gather evidence about Saddam's assets. He denied the reports that the assets amounted up to USD three billion in Syria and Lebanon.
Vice President Khaddam yesterday said: "there is some (Iraqi) money and some (Iraqi) demands" to recover it.
"This matter is still under discussion," Khaddam added. He did not elaborate.
A UN resolution passed after the US-led war against Saddam's regime calls on all nations to seize and return to the American-administered fund for development in Iraq all assets of the former Baghdad government so they may be used to benefit the Iraqi people.
Bureau Report
Khaddam's remark broke ground as earlier this month Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bushra Kanafani denied US reports that Syria had millions of Dollars worth of Iraqi money.
Kanafani dismissed as "baseless" press reports that Syrian and Lebanese banks were holding up to USD three billion worth of assets from the regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. She spoke to reporters on October 11.
Ten days later, however, an official of the US embassy in Damascus said Syria was cooperating with the United States to see whether its banks hold any such assets.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that an American team was in Syria to gather evidence about Saddam's assets. He denied the reports that the assets amounted up to USD three billion in Syria and Lebanon.
Vice President Khaddam yesterday said: "there is some (Iraqi) money and some (Iraqi) demands" to recover it.
"This matter is still under discussion," Khaddam added. He did not elaborate.
A UN resolution passed after the US-led war against Saddam's regime calls on all nations to seize and return to the American-administered fund for development in Iraq all assets of the former Baghdad government so they may be used to benefit the Iraqi people.
Bureau Report