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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/seized-weir-group-cash-to-aid-iraq.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Fiona Hyslop hailed Scotland's distinctive approach to international development" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/min-seized-weir-group-cash-to-aid-iraq.jpg" alt="Fiona Hyslop hailed Scotland's distinctive approach to international development"/></a></p>
<p>Cash confiscated from a British engineering firm that paid illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein&#8217;s regime is to be handed back to the people of Iraq.</p>
<p>About £1.5 million of the total £13.9 million will support water development and other humanitarian programmes, including a donation to the new Linda Norgrove Foundation, the Scottish Government announced.</p>
<p>The money was handed over by the Glasgow-based Weir Group, which was also fined £3 million at the High Court in Edinburgh last December for breaching United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq before the 2003 invasion.</p>
<p>The international allocation will be split, with £300,000 for water development in Iraq and £1 million for Scottish NGOs to work with Iraqi partners.</p>
<p>The Iraqi Youth Orchestra will be given £100,000 to tour the Edinburgh Festival, in association with the British Council, and £100,000 will be donated to the Linda Norgrove Foundation for humanitarian work in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Ms Norgrove died in October during a US military-led rescue mission to free her from her Afghan captors. Her parents, John and Lorna, welcomed the money, which has helped their foundation to bank more than £270,000 so far.</p>
<p>In a statement they said: &#8220;We are determined to put this money to good use and to ensure that our costs are kept to a bare minimum so that funds get through to the people on the ground.&#8221;</p>
<p>Scottish External Affairs Minister Fiona Hyslop said: &#8220;A top priority is support for water projects in Iraq. We are working with the United Nations to develop proposals that will tackle water development based on the needs identified in the country. Scotland has always been a responsible nation and our distinctive approach to international development has made a difference to some of the most vulnerable people in the world.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mark Chadwick, of the Edinburgh-based Mercy Corps, said: &#8220;It&#8217;s particularly welcome at a time when the continuing humanitarian needs of Iraqis appear to be slipping off the international agenda. We know from our work on the ground that the people of Iraq still need a great deal of help and there&#8217;s a lot yet to be done to improve their government&#8217;s ability to deliver essential public services in an efficient and transparent way.&#8221;</p>
<p>The rest of the money, totalling about £12.4 million, will be used to fund community projects in Scotland.</p>
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