Where's our missing $17bn? Iraq demands return of oil money 'stolen by U.S. institutions after 2003 invasion'

Iraq is demanding the return of $17billion (£10.5billion) in oil money it says was stolen by U.S. institutions in the wake of the 2003 invasion.



In a letter to sent the UN sent last month the Iraqi parliament asked for help finding and recovering the money, which disappeared from the Development Fund of Iraq.



The parliament's Integrity Committee called the disappearance of the money a 'financial crime' but said UN Security Council resolutions prevent Iraq from making a claim against the United States.



Invaders: US marines wave US and Iraqi flags in front of al-Faruq Palace in the Iraqi city of Tikrit on April 14, 2003

'All the indications are that the institutions of the United States of America committed financial corruption by stealing the money of the Iraqi people, which was allocated to develop Iraq, (and) that it was about $17 billion,' said the letter.



'Our committee decided to send this issue to you ... to look into it and restore the stolen money.'

Bahaa al-Araji, the head of the Integrity Committee, said the appeal to the UN could help Iraq recover its money by putting its case before the international community.



'We cannot sue the Americans. Laws do not allow us to do that. All we want is to get this issue to the UN,' he said.



'If this works, it will open the way for Iraq to restore its stolen money.'



Shock and awe: British 105mm guns fire during a night attack by British 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery in southern Iraq, March 26, 2003

The Development Fund of Iraq (DFI) was established in 2003 at the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the U.S. body headed by Paul Bremer that governed Iraq after the invasion.



In 2004, the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush flew billions of dollars in cash into the country.



Request: U.S. Administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, asked for the money to pay for Iraqi staff and reconstruction

The money came from the sale of Iraqi oil, surplus funds from the U.N. oil-for-food program and seized Iraqi assets.



The money was intended to be used to pay the salaries and pensions of Iraqi government workers and for reconstruction projects.



But last July, an audit report from the U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) admitted the U.S. Department of Defense was unable to account properly for $8.7billion of Iraqi oil and gas money.



Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Al Jazeera television on Sunday: 'No one on the Iraqi side was controlling the work of Paul Bremer at that time.



'So I think the administration of the United States needs to give the answers for where and how this (money) was being used.'



However, he added, 'we do understand that Iraqis are also engaged in such lack of transparency and corruption related to the Paul Bremer time in Iraq.'

Protests: The Iraq invasion prompted some of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in London

U.S. led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, over fears that its leader, Saddam Hussein, was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.



The same year, the CPA issued an order granting immunity to U.S. personnel and institutions working in Iraq.

