U.N. still divided over Iraq sanctions
In this issue...
- Security Council divided on timing of an overhaul of U.N. sanctions against Iraq
Earlier stories...
- U.S., Russia to huddle at NATO on Iraqi sanctions
- Security Council divided on timing of an overhaul of U.N. sanctions against Iraq
UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council remained deeply divided Tuesday on the timing of an overhaul of sanctions against Iraq - with the United States and Britain pushing for action within five days and Russia demanding up to six months.
The continuing split among the veto-wielding members of the council bogged down negotiations on a resolution to extend the U.N. humanitarian program in Iraq, which expires at midnight June 3.
The oil-for-food humanitarian program is an exemption to the sanctions imposed on Iraq by the Security Council in 1990 after its invasion of Kuwait. Started in late 1996, it allows Iraq to sell oil provided proceeds are used primarily to buy humanitarian supplies, compensate war victims and purchase oil industry spare parts.
Washington and London want the next six-month extension of the program to lift restrictions on most civilian goods entering Iraq and toughen enforcement of a decade-old arms embargo. Iraq has rejected the U.S.-backed British resolution and threatened to halt oil exports which fund the humanitarian program if it is adopted.
Russia and China, Iraq's closest council allies, say they are willing to consider a sanctions overhaul but they need more time.
France offered a compromise that would give the Russians and Chinese an extra month to study a proposed list of hundreds of military-related items that would still be subject to review by the U.N. committee monitoring sanctions against Iraq.
But Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Gennadi Gatilov told The Associated Press on Tuesday that "we believe one month is not enough for this kind of serious work that is ahead of us."
Two Russian experts have been in New York for a week studying the "very complex" list, which was compiled by the United States, he said.
"We are in favor of a six-month extension of the program, which is the usual extension," Gatilov said.
"We hope that we can come to some sort of mutually acceptable decision of the Security Council - which is a continuation of the humanitarian program," he said. "We still believe we should do everything possible to make the humanitarian program an effective one. ... The British and U.S. draft - we don't think it goes in that direction."
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock insisted that "the momentum continues."
"We're just working through a number of options at the moment," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov were scheduled to meet in Budapest on Wednesday and Iraq is likely to be on the agenda, a senior State Department official said Tuesday. The United States is still hoping for passage of the British resolution by the Sunday midnight deadline, the official said.
Benon Sevan, who heads the oil-for-food program, said he told council members Tuesday that "irrespective of their differences ... they cannot go on reciting the same litany we hear at every discussion of the council (on Iraq) – that they have to do something to improve the performance of the program."
"I know it's difficult to try to de-politicize it, but it's still possible to bear in mind the need of the Iraqi civilian population, to improve their humanitarian lot, which is in bad shape," he said.
Under Security Council resolutions, sanctions can be lifted only after U.N. weapons inspectors declare that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been eliminated. Baghdad has barred U.N. inspectors from returning to the country for nearly 2 1-2 years.
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Earlier stories...
- U.S., Russia to huddle at NATO on Iraqi sanctions
UNITED NATIONS - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Minister Robin Cook seek to convince Russia on Tuesday to break the deadlock on their new Iraqi sanctions proposals when they meet at a NATO session in Budapest, diplomats said.
Russia, represented by its Foreign Minister,Igor Ivanov, has the strongest objections to a draft resolution Britain circulated to the 15 U.N. Security Council members last week.
France, whose Foreign Minister, Hubert Vedrine, will be in Budapest, appears to support the resolution in principle. But his envoys are stressing unity among the council's key members, an indication they would want to put off a vote if Russia continues to balk at the draft.
The U.S.-British measures ease sanctions on civilian goods to Iraq but expand a list of military-related supplies.
Ivanov, whose country is not a NATO member, is scheduled to be in Budapest on Tuesday for a meeting of the NATO-Russia permanent joint council.
China, the fifth permanent U.N. Security Council member with veto power, will not be represented at the NATO meeting.
Ambassadors from the five council powers met late on Monday at U.N. headquarters but apparently made no progress. France has submitted a series of amendments, some of which the United States and Britain have accepted; whether a vote can be held soon is uncertain.
The United States and Britain want to get the resolution adopted by May 31, before the current phase of the U.N. humanitarian "oil-for-food" program expires on June 3.
That program, which regulates oil sales from and goods going to Baghdad, was meant to ease the impact of sanctions, imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
The oil-for-food plan requires proceeds from Iraqi oil sales to be put in a U.N. escrow fund out of which suppliers for goods imported to Iraq are paid. The U.S.-British resolution would keep the fund intact, thereby denying Baghdad free use of its monies.
Iraqi officials, who oppose any resolution that perpetuates the sanctions, have threatened to cut off oil supplies if the measures are approved. But the more controversial parts of the draft resolution are put off until Secretary-General Kofi Annan makes recommendations, after which the council will review them.
They include regulating trade among Iraq and its neighbors, monitoring Iraq's land and sea borders against smuggling and weeding out the list of oil traders to eliminate shadowy firms, which are alleged to be paying Baghdad a surcharge on oil sales outside of the U.N. system.
Also at issue is a list the United States and Britain distributed, giving its roster of banned goods that include high performance computers, certain types of software, high frequency radio relay communications and other items.
The 23-page list, obtained by Reuters last week, is in addition to a previous list of armaments that have been banned outright.
The U.S.-British resolution also wants to add the "Wassenaar Arrangements" list on munitions and "dual-use" items, which have military and civilian applications. These would have to be reviewed individually by the council.
The Wassenaar accord, named after a town in the Netherlands, suggests lists of export controls for conventional arms, dual-use goods and technologies.
China has not participated in the Wassenaar pact and its envoy, Shen Guofang, has protested that his country needs time to study it. Russia, too, has said more time was needed to analyze all the lists.
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