The US overseer in Iraq unveiled a 25 million-dollar fund Wednesday to compensate thousands of Iraqis victimised by Saddam Hussein, which officials said was inadequate for the flood of likely applicants.
"I have created a special task force for compensation of victims of the previous regime. For an initial endowment, I have set aside 25 million dollars," Paul Bremer told a Baghdad news conference.
The money will come from the Development Fund for Iraq that includes the oil revenue and foreign assets, and will be controlled by Baghdad's interim government after the US-led coalition relinquishes sovereignty on June 30.
The physically and mentally tortured, people who had property and money confiscated, the displaced, the exiled and relatives of those who were killed by forces loyal to Saddam, all stand to receive payouts, officials said.
"Thinking of these people is a humanitarian act par excellence," said the head of the Iraqi Bar Association, Malik Dohan al-Hassan, who has been appointed chairman of the special committee.
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