Members of the UN Security Council were divided Thursday over a British proposal to ease trade sanctions on Iraq but tighten controls on sales of weapons and related goods.
The United States and Norway backed the measure, but Russia and China said they were not ready to support it. French officials want to see a final text before deciding, reported the Associated Press.
Iraq, meanwhile, flatly rejected the proposal. It wants a complete end to all sanctions.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Iraq had asked Russia to block the proposal.
The plan will keep Iraq at the mercy of the UN, since the Arab country will not have a free hand regarding its oil earnings, which will still be deposited into a UN-controlled account.
The long-awaited British-American proposal, if adopted by the Security Council, would prohibit only the sale of a specific list of arms and weapons-related items to Iraq, said the New York Times.
But the plan would require Iraq to let international arms inspections resume before any sanctions would be lifted.
Iraq has repeatedly announced that it will accept nothing short of an end to the embargo, and has expelled international inspectors – Albawaba.com
