WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A group of international auditors said that the United States should repay some 208 million US dollars to Iraq for a poorly-done reconstruction work, The New York Times reported Saturday.

    The work, which was contracted to KBR, a subsidiary of the US defense contractor Halliburton, and was paid with Iraqi oil proceeds, was either carried out at inflated price or accomplished poorly, the auditors were quoted as saying.

    The auditors belong to the International Advisory and Monitoring Board of the Development Fund for Iraq, an auditing group sponsored by the United Nations to check reconstruction projects in Iraq.

    The board's authority extends only to making recommendations onany reimbursement of the reconstruction projects and it is up to the US government to decide whether to make the repayment.

    US analysts said the finding will incur further suspicions among Iraqis, who always fear that the United States invaded their country to control the oil resources.

    Meanwhile, the report also came at a tough time for the Bush Administration, since US Vice President Dick Cheney's former role as chief executive Halliburton has already led charges that the company received preferential treatment in obtaining reconstruction contracts in Iraq.

    US Congressman Henry Waxman, a Californian Democrat, accused the Bush administration of repeatedly giving Halliburton special treatment and "allowed the company to gouge both US taxpayers and the Iraqi people."

    Some of the Iraq reconstruction projects are financed by the United States while the rest is paid with Iraqi oil proceeds.

    It is the first time that an international auditing group suggested that some US contractors have overcharged Iraq in reconstruction work, though a number of private auditors had criticized the overpricing behavior of KBR and other US contractors. Enditem