NEWS

WASHINGTON, May 25 (Summary of Reuters Article) - A watchdog group established by the United Nations said it is still waiting for the United States to provide the audits of government contracts awarded to Halliburton and funded by Iraqi oil money. It has been two months since the group requested the documents be delivered "expeditiously." The group, known as the International Advisory and Monitoring Board, was established by the U.N. Security Council to oversee spending by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. It had requested the audit reports in March when it learned the Halliburton contracts were awarded without competition in 2003. The board told Reuters it is considering doing its own audit of the contracts, which were funded by the Development Fund for Iraq, an account established by the U.N. Security Council to hold the proceeds from Iraqi oil sales.