Secretary-General Welcomes United Nations Governing Council’s Decision to Allow Iraq to Defer Deposit of Oil Proceeds until January 2016

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General welcomes the decision of the Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission to support the Government of Iraq’s request to postpone until January 2016 Iraq's obligation to deposit 5 per cent of its oil proceeds into the Compensation Fund.

The Secretary-General is particularly grateful to the Government of Kuwait for its support in accepting the request of the Government of Iraq.

The Secretary-General expresses his strong solidarity with the Government and the people of Iraq who are currently facing a severe security and humanitarian crisis.  The Secretary-General encourages the international community, including countries in the region, to further expand cooperation and support to Iraq at this challenging time.