Iraq says U.N. oil pricing threatens oil-for-food program

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq on Saturday accused the United States and Britain of interfering with the U.N. oil for food program, which lets Iraq use oil revenue to buy food and medicines.\nThe program was created in 1996 to ease the suffering of Iraqi civilians under sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It allows Iraq to sell unlimited amounts of oil to purchase basic needs for its people.\nIn October, the United States and Britain won committee approval to set the price of Iraqi oil retroactively at the end of the month to prevent Iraq from taking advantage of market fluctuations to impose an illegal surcharge.