Iraq was poised Tuesday to resume UN-authorized oil exports "within hours" after a break of five weeks, an industry source at the Gulf port of Mina Al Bakr said.
"Exports will resume within hours. Preparations are underway to start loading the first tanker," a Greek-flagged ship, the source told AFP, asking not to be named.
On Monday, Iraqi Ambassador Mohammad Al Douri said that Iraq could resume oil exports within two days, following an agreement between Baghdad and the UN on Monday on a 150-day extension of the oil-for-food program.
"Everything will be normalized, I hope as early as possible, maybe tomorrow, maybe in two days," Douri told AFP.
Iraq and the UN extended the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) governing the oil-for-food program, which allows Baghdad to sell its petroleum and use a portion of the proceeds to purchase humanitarian relief goods.
The extension was formalized, as has been the practice for each phase of the program, through an exchange of letters between Baghdad and the UN, said the UN news site.
The latest extension covers the entire 150-day current phase of the program, which was renewed by the Security Council last week.
Comprised of 10 sections and two annexes, the MoU aims to ensure the effective implementation of the oil-for-food program.
It obliges the Iraqi government to guarantee the equitable distribution of humanitarian supplies throughout the country and outlines observation procedures to confirm compliance.
At the same time, Douri said Baghdad will "continue to fight for a complete abandonment" of a US-British proposal to replace the current sanctions regime against Iraq with so-called "smart" sanctions.
"It is a question of national independence," he added.
Faced with the threat of a Russian veto, Britain and the United States earlier this month set aside their efforts to adopt narrower sanctions against Iraq that would have scrapped the 11-year-old embargo on civilian trade while tightening controls to prevent Baghdad from smuggling oil and illegal weapons – Albawaba.com
