After months of negotiations, Iraq and the United Nations signed an agreement Monday to let Saddam Hussein sell oil to buy food and medicine for his suffering people.
The accord will let Iraq sell $1 billion of oil every 90 days - its first oil exports since the United Nations imposed sanctions on Baghdad to punish it for invading Kuwait in August 1990. The pact would be expected to reduce gasoline prices worldwide.U.N. spokesman Sylvana Foa said the agreement was signed Monday morning by U.N. negotiator Hans Corell and Iraq's chief negotiator, Abdul Amir al-Anbari. U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali went immediately to brief the Security Council on the agreement.
"At last our efforts have been fruitful and we just signed the agreement," al-Anbari said.
Al-Anbari said he expects Iraqi oil to start flowing in a month. Western diplomats said it could take six to eight weeks.
Oil prices dropped after the announcement but recovered quickly. Wholesale futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange were off about 24 cents per barrel to $20.40 after falling as much as 79 cents.
U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright said that the United States was satisfied with the deal.