P-25 Iraqs Oil.... and the forgotten Oil for Food Program

Iraq Oil-for-food scandalThe oil-for-food programme (OFF) was set up to allow Iraq to sell its oil in return for humanitarian relief, so it would not breach sanctions imposed after the first Iraq war..... The programme was administered by the United Nations and is now embroiled in a corruption scandal.

Q&A: Oil-for-food scandal Since Saddam Hussein was toppled in April 2003 evidence has emerged of corruption within the oil-for-food (OFF) programme administered by the UN.

Q: What was the oil-for-food programme?

It was a $60bn (£32bn) scheme which was supposed to allow Iraq to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies with the proceeds of regulated oil sales, without breaking the sanctions imposed on it after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The programme - set up in 1996 - aimed to relieve the suffering of ordinary Iraqis under the sanctions.

It was formally ended in 2003 after the US-led invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.