New procedures have sped up the U.N. humanitarian program that lets Iraq sell oil to buy food and other civilian goods, but Baghdad's falling oil sales have weakened the program, the United Nations said on Friday.

The current world focus on whether Iraq will disarm, as required by a new Security Council resolution, or face possible U.S. military strikes, has aggravated the situation, diverting attention from the suffering of ordinary Iraqis, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned in a new report.

"While understandably, the current discussions are focused on the resumption of the weapons inspection regime, I should like to appeal to all concerned to also focus attention on the humanitarian dimension and to spare no effort in meeting the dire humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people," Annan said in his latest report on the U.N. oil-for-food program.

The program was put in place in 1996 to ease the impact of U.N. sanctions -- including a ban on oil sales -- imposed on Baghdad after its 1990 invasion of oil-rich neighbor Kuwait.

The program "was never intended to be a substitute for normal economic activity," he told the 15-nation council. "As long as the comprehensive sanctions remain in force, however, there is no alternative to the program for addressing the humanitarian situation in Iraq."

"Despite its shortcomings, the program has made and continues to make a major difference in the lives of ordinary Iraqis," he said.

Overall, the program has improved socioeconomic conditions while preventing the further degradation of Iraq's public services and infrastructure, devastated by the 1991 Gulf War in which a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraq out of Kuwait.

» Weak Iraqi Oil Sales Harm UN Humanitarian Program