AN ECONOMIC EXPERT REVEALS A ROADMAP FOR FREEING IRAQI FUNDS FROM THE GRIP OF THE US FEDERAL RESERVE.
(Mnt Goat: Why freeing Iraqi funds (about $100 billion) from the US Treasury is not so easy as one might think.)
On Friday, economist Nabil Al-Marousmi revealed several solutions and proposals to free Iraqi funds from the control of the US Federal Reserve.
Al-Marsoumi said in a post followed by “Al-Ahd News”: “The United States has effectively controlled Iraqi oil revenues since 2003 through its management via the Federal Reserve. The United Nations had provided legal protection for these funds under Resolution 1483, until it was terminated in 2011, following the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1956.”
He added that “the US president issued Executive Order 13303 to protect Iraqi funds, an order that remains in effect today despite some amendments.” He explained that “the objectives of US protection of Iraqi funds are to safeguard them from compensation claims by companies and individuals, as well as to prevent the seizure of Iraqi assets in cases filed since the 1990s.” He emphasized that “despite the expiration of many of the legal reasons that necessitated this financial arrangement, Iraq remains subject to strict financial oversight by Washington, which differs from the usual procedures in the international banking system.”
Al-Marsoumi pointed out that “most oil-producing countries deposit their money in the US Federal Reserve because oil is sold in dollars, but Iraq suffers from complete dependence on oil revenues without alternative resources,” explaining that “this means that the problem is not in depositing money with the US Federal Reserve, but rather in the restrictions imposed on the ability to dispose of it freely, unlike what other countries enjoy.”
He continued: “It is known that there are cases filed against Iraq by dozens or hundreds of companies that were harmed by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and representatives of Iraq did not attend the court sessions at the time to defend or reduce the compensations, and therefore the courts issued default judgments for very high amounts.”
He noted that “linking the issue of protecting Iraqi funds from prosecution to America gives Washington great influence over Baghdad, and resolving the crisis requires a political decision, as happened with Greece and Argentina, by employing a reputable law firm that is given full powers, whose task will be to accurately inventory the cases filed against Iraq and how much money has been awarded in judgments.”
Al-Marsoumi concluded that “Iraq is unable to resort to the courts because the judgments have become final, so a deal can be reached with the beneficiaries to drop the lawsuits in exchange for giving them a percentage of the money, which is called buying the debts, and most likely they will accept because they will get money instead of waiting and possibly not getting anything.”