UNITED NATIONS - Iraq said yesterday it had agreed to all UN conditions for carrying out a delayed "oil for food" deal and predicted oil could start flowing some time next month.
"All the aspects of the MOU (memorandum of understanding, or agreement) have been discussed and they have been agreed upon," the Iraqi UN envoy, Mr Nizar Hamdoon, said after a meeting with Undersecretary General Chinmaya Gharekhan, who heads a UN task force overseeing the accord.
The American UN envoy, Ms Madeleine Albright, said the US was "very pleased" and that the Secretary General, Dr Boutros Boutros Ghali, appeared ready to put the deal into effect. She also said the US expected to approve an oil pricing formula covering Iraqi oil contracts when it goes before the Security Council's Iraqi sanctions committee.