Rations to Be Cut; U.S. Gets Blame

The government announced that it was cutting rations of essentials to its people, saying it had not received sufficient supplies under its oil-for-food deal with the United Nations. Rations of baby milk, cooking oil, tea and detergents will be reduced, it said. The state-run Iraqi News Agency blamed the reduction in milk powder on the U.S. representative at the U.N. sanctions committee, who, it said, refused to “register a contract with a Tunisian company to bring baby milk to Iraq.” The oil pact allows the nation to export $2 billion worth of oil over six months to buy food, medicine and other essentials for Iraqis suffering from trade sanctions imposed after Baghdad invaded Kuwait in 1990.