Iraq today replied to charges leveled by Israel’s United Nations Ambassador Yosef Tekoah yesterday of “Nazi-like persecution” of Jews in that country. Adnan Pachachi, permanent representative of Iraq to the UN, claimed in a letter to Secretary-General U Thant that Mr. Tekoah’s charges were “completely false” and without “a shred of evidence to support them.” Tekoah, in his letter to Thant, referred specifically to Iraqi laws promulgated last March which forbade the payment of debts due to Jews, prevented Jews from transferring their property and put a ceiling of 100 dinars ($180) per month on wages a Jew may earn. This sum, Mr. Tekoah said, is approximately the salary paid to a “beginning clerk” and is not sufficient to support a family.
The Iraqi representative asserted in his letter that “Jews in Iraq enjoy complete equality with other citizens.” He said the March, 1968 laws were “designed to protect the interests of loyal Jewish citizens of Iraq” and was “directed against the attempts of some of those who have already voluntarily renounced their citizenship to flout and circumvent the laws of the country.” Mr. Pachachi said that 100 dinars equals $280 and is the basic monthly salary of senior Government officials with 20 years of service. He said that 100 dinars in Iraq has many times the purchasing power of its equivalent in dollars.
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