President Bush lifted U.S. sanctions against the old government of Iraq on Wednesday and prodded the U.N. Security Council to do the same. "No country in good conscience can support using sanctions to hold back the hopes of the Iraqi people," Bush said.
At a news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Bush said that the United States, Britain and Spain would introduce a U.N. resolution "soon" that would lift sanctions imposed in 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. "The regime that the sanctions were directed against no longer rules Iraq," Bush said.
Such a resolution could be introduced before the 15-member council as early as Friday or Monday, a senior State Department official told The Associated Press. The U.S. resolution also would create an international advisory board, including U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to audit how income from Iraq's oil industry is spent and ensure it is being used to benefit the Iraqi people, diplomats said.
U.S. efforts to lift the sanctions has met opposition from Russia and France. But after meeting with Aznar, Bush said he senses there is now "a mood to work together" on a sanctions resolution despite earlier objections that divided the Security Council over whether to go war in Iraq.
Aznar agreed. "Absolutely. I hope it's true," he said. "Everyone needs to contribute to it within the Security Council."
Bush also announced that he was removing U.S. sanctions imposed on Iraq under a 1990 law. He said he was doing so to allow certain equipment needed for Iraq's reconstruction to be sent to the country.
France and Russia have voiced objections to abandoning the sanctions until the United Nations certifies that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction.
There were indications on Wednesday, however, that France was softening its position, and so was Germany.
French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte said in an interview, "We want to find the best possible solutions in the interest of the Iraqi people." Russia, meanwhile, is agreeable only to a suspension of the embargoes on food and medicine. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
