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Iraq Says U.N. Feeds Dogs Better Than Iraqis
UNITED NATIONS, July 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United Nations has responded to Iraqi complaints that it spends more on feeding its mine-sniffing dogs than on the Iraqi people, by revealing in detail how much it spends on dog food, the French news agency AFP reported.
The spat began June 28th when Iraq's deputy foreign minister Riyadh al-Qaysi told the U.N. Security Council that sniffer dogs used in a U.N. de-mining program in Iraq's Kurdistan region were better fed than the Iraqis themselves.
Two weeks later, on Thursday, the executive director of the Iraq Program, Benon Sevan, went before the U.N. Sanctions Committee to refute al-Qaysi's charge.
"Contrary to what was stated regarding the cost of de-mining dogs, during the period July 1999 to June 2000, 140 dogs were deployed under the program, each of which was fed 0.8 kg of imported dog food," Sevan said.
"The imported food was enhanced by local food such as chicken and fat," the U.N. official said before making his point.
"The average cost of feeding one dog during this period was $34 per month... or $408 per year and not $1,248 per year as stated in the Council recently."
Without mentioning al-Qaysi by name, Sevan went on to reject his charges that U.N. personnel were getting rich at the expense of Iraqis.
"I very much regret to go into such details. I have been given no alternative in view of the remarks made," Sevan said, adding that he did not want the U.N.'s silence up to then on the matter to be misconstrued as an admission of guilt.
Sevan added: "I feel duty bound, on behalf of my colleagues both at the headquarters level and in the field, to provide clarifications with regard to a number of questions raised concerning the implementation of the program as well as the assertions and allegations made recently in the Security Council…
"Some of my colleagues have made the ultimate sacrifice in losing their lives while working with the humanitarian program the objective of which is to serve the Iraqi people."
Later on in his presentation, Sevan also responded to earlier comments, though not mentioning the source, stating that posts in the U.N. task force in Iraq are being sought after.
"Given the difficulties we have been encountering in recruiting staff to go and work in Iraq, I find it very odd hearing the claim that 'a mission to Iraq is one of the most cherished and sought-after assignments by the United Nations Secretariat staff'.
"There are many factors that make Iraq a difficult duty station. These include security concerns, the fact that it is a non-family duty station, that staff must live in hotels, and that getting in and out of the country is arduous leading to a sense of isolation.
"For these reasons, it has always been difficult to find staff to come and work in the country. In this regard, it should also be noted that the financial incentives and entitlements to work in Iraq are very much equal, and in many cases, considerably less than those provided for in other duty stations," he said.
The sanctions committee met behind closed doors, but the United Nations later made Sevan's statement public.
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