Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that large sums of money belonging to the former Iraqi regime, led by Saddam Hussein, were restored by the Iraqi government after they were being seized by the United Nations under the oil-for-food and medicine program.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in a statement received by the "Al Maghrib Today" in Iraq, "Iraqi funds held by the United Nations under the oil program for food and medicine amounting to 131 million dollars, in addition to the benefits for six years after That the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, authorized by the Council of Ministers and with the support of the Prime Minister, and the contribution of the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to negotiate the latest commitments related to this program.

Gamal explained that his country conducted two rounds of negotiations with the Secretariat of the United Nations on the completion of Iraq's obligations related to the release of the "Chapter VII".

The Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations, Ambassador Mohamed Ali Al-Hakim, headed Iraq's negotiating team, which was composed of advisers and experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Justice. The foreign efforts culminated in reaching an agreement whereby foreign financial issues related to the oil-for-food and medicine issue were resolved and Iraq was restored to an amount of approximately $ 145 million.