UNITED NATIONS -- Iraq accused U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday of aiding the U.S. and British attack on Iraq by withdrawing U.N. peacekeepers and weapons inspectors, which allowed the invading force to cross the Kuwaiti border unchallenged.
Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Al-Douri, also criticized the secretary-general for not making a statement "condemning or deploring the attack," and for not sending a letter to the Security Council informing members that the war threatened international peace and security.
The U.N. spokesman's office said Annan would issue a written response Saturday.
In a harsh condemnation, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan accused the U.N. General Secretariat of playing the "role of the colonialist high commissioner with the Iraqi people."
He sent a letter to Annan protesting the U.N. decision to pull its workers out of Iraq on Monday, days before the U.S.-led assault to topple Saddam began. Those workers included peacekeepers who had patrolled the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border, arms inspections teams and workers for the humanitarian oil-for-food program.
The withdrawal was "a blatant violation of U.N. responsibilities" with "no legal or moral justification" and was "in line with the aggressive U.S.-British scheme, which violates international law," Ramadan said in the letter, which was read on Iraqi satellite television.
Ramadan also criticized a proposal by Annan for allowing the United Nations to run the oil-for-food program not just in Iraq's north but throughout the country and for refugees fleeing the U.S.-led war.
Iraqi officials said the proposal would reduce Iraq's role in the program, in which Iraqi oil profits are controlled for use buying foods and medicines for its people.
Ramadan said the proposal was "based on a colonialist, racist and despicable illusion that pushes the despot oppressors in Washington and London towards eliminating the state of Iraq from existence."
The withdrawal of peacekeepers, who have been on the Iraq-Kuwait border since the end of the first Gulf War in 1991, "allowed the United States and Britain to use the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait as a passageway for their invading forces," al-Douri said at U.N. headquarters in New York.
The oil-for-food program allows Iraq to sell unlimited quantities of oil, provided the money is used primarily for humanitarian relief. Revenue from oil sales is kept in a U.N.-controlled escrow account. About 60 percent of Iraq's 22 million people rely on the program for food, and the Security Council wants to reactivate it quickly, giving Annan interim authority to run it.
The Security Council discussed Annan's draft Friday. Members who were badly divided over the war expressed hope that they can quickly agree on a new resolution giving Annan interim authority to run it.
