Washington, Dec 06: Syria has rejected US demands to return the money deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussain's regime had deposited in a Syrian state bank, a media report said quoting American officials. Syrian Embassy officials here said Damascus would use the money to repay the creditors of the former Iraqi regime, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"Lots of Syrian businessmen have claims against this money," the report quoted Imad Moustapha, Syria's Charge D'affaires here as saying.
Hussain's regime is believed to have deposited an estimated USD 250 million in the Syrian state bank and about USD 500 million each in accounts in Jordan, Lebanon and some Persian Gulf States, it said.
Officials in Damascus want Syrian private companies to have a first crack at the funds to pay off debts run up by the Hussain government, it said.
The report said US officials believed as many as USD 750 million may already have been distributed among Syrian commercial creditors, who are thought to have sold textiles, pharmaceuticals, citrus fruit and other goods to Iraq before the American invasion in March. Bureau Report