POISON GAS IRAQ PAID WITH AID MONEY;

'Development Cooperation charged for sale of chemicals to Saddam' TROUW; Friday 23 July 2004By Marc Doodeman AMSTERDAM -

The Dutch government wants the ministry for development cooperation to pay for the raw materials for poison gas that the Dutch company Melchemie illegally supplied to Iraq in 1985. This emerges from data of a commission of the United Nations that processes claims of companies. The Dutch State has 41 claims on Iraq totaling an amount of Euro 245 million. The ministry of finance confirms the amount, but refuses to say whether this includes money of the Dutch chemical company Melchemie. This company however is mentioned explicitly in the UN-list. In 1985 Melchemie supplied Iraq for 1 million dollars of raw materials for mustard gas. The company from Arnhem received no money from Iraq, but was compensated by an export credit insurance with the State. The State then took over the claim on the Iraqi government. Currently the Netherlands wishes to cancel such claims on Iraq. In doing so this cancellation will be booked as "aid" at the expense of the budget for development cooperation. Due to the interest, the claim of Melchemie has increased to an amount of 2 million dollars. Melchemie was convicted in 1987 for the supply of four essential chemicals to make mustard gas. In March 1988 in the Iraqi town of Halabja more than 4.000 Kurds died due to lethal poison gas. A direct connection between the poison gas and the war materials of Melchemie was never proven. The MP Hans van Heijningen (Socialist Party) considers it 'completelyinsane' that the ministry for development cooperation has to pay for this debt. "The idea that not the Kurds, but rather the company that supplied the raw materials was compensated .... it is just scandalous". Last week, minister Van Ardenne (development cooperation), also on behalf of her colleague Mr. Zalm of Finance, informed parliament that she does not know exactly what kind of claims the Netherlands has on Iraq. "This is not correct", says Mr. Van Heijningen. "These data are already for two years available on a website. They have been provided to the UN by the ministry of finance itself". Aid organization Both ENDS considers the rescheduling of the debt of Iraq to be premature and calls it bitter that exactly this debt rescheduling is done at the expense of the budget for development cooperation.