After being given the key to a newly constructed resort town, Hussein said that such building projects show how Iraq is defeating the U.N. embargo

May 6, 1999
Web posted at: 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein charged Thursday that the U.N. "oil-for-food" program is trying to turn his people into "poultry," unable to think of anything other than food.

"Our enemies want to domesticate us, they want to transform us into a people of poultry which spends its time just eating," Hussein said, in a nationally televised address.

The Iraqi leader made the comments after he was given the symbolic key to the newly constructed resort town of Thar Thar.

The town is part of an ambitious building campaign launched by the Iraqi government in defiance of U.N. sanctions in place since the invasion of Kuwait.

Hussein said projects such as constructing new dams and restoring the national power grid prove that Iraq can stand up to its enemies.

A U.N. official has described the oil-for-food program as 'inadequate' to meet the needs of Iraq's people

U.N. official calls program 'inadequate'

His message comes one day after the United Nations released its own assessment of the oil-food-deal, termed the "986 program."

"Anyone who has looked at the 986 program and beyond comes to the same conclusion ... that it's inadequate," said Han van Sponeck, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. "What we have is not enough to meet the basic needs of a population, both physical as well as metaphysical needs."

The latest phase of the oil-for-food deal will end May 24, but will likely be renewed for a sixth installment without much debate.

The U.N. raised the ceiling on Iraq oil exports last year from $2 billion every six months to $5.26 billion. The U.N. has said the $5.26 billion limit is the minimum amount required to prevent a deterioration in the health of the population because of sanctions.

The U.N. takes approximately one-third of that amount to pay for expenses, as well as war reparations from the Gulf War.

Reporter James Martone and Reuters contributed to this report.

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