Defiant Syria won't release Iraqi funds

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Syria is refusing to hand over an estimated $250 million deposited by Saddam Hussein's regime to the United States despite a U.N. mandate.

U.S. officials say talks appear to have reached an impasse on the funds, amassed from oil revenue Saddam stashed in a Syrian bank after the first Persian Gulf war in 1991.

The regime also is believed to have deposited about $500 million in accounts in Jordan and a similar amount in Lebanon. U.S. and Iraqi officials have made progress recently toward retrieving money from those two countries, the Wall Street Journal said.

Syria acknowledges the money is being held in the Commercial Bank of Syria, a state-owned institution, and Syrian officials allowed a team of Iraqi and U.S. Internal Revenue Service investigators access to bank records during a visit in October.

"It shows you at least there's some good will," said Imad Moustapha, Syria's charge d'affaires in Washington.

Damascus argues private Syrian companies should have first crack at the funds to pay off debts run up by the former Iraqi government.