A senior Iraq electricity official on Wednesday urged French firms charged with rebuilding Iraq's electricity sector to fulfill their contracts.
Salah Yussif Qazir, head of Iraq's electricity office, also examined "ways of bilateral cooperation, in particular the electricity sector" with Andre Janier, head of French interests in Baghdad, INA said without elaborating.
Baghdad was in contact last year with French firm Spie Batignolles to carry out electrical projects.
Iraq's electricity installations were battered in the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait and repair work has been hampered by a lack of spare parts due to the sanctions in force since the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Electricity is cut six hours a day in Baghdad and twice as long in the provinces. Iraq can import spare parts for the electricity sector under a UN oil-for-food accord which allows Baghdad to export crude in return for food, medicine and other essential goods.
Baghdad has repeatedly accused US and British representatives on the sanctions committee -- which has to approve Iraq's foreign contracts -- of using fake pretexts to block its imports.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
