UN row building over Iraq
A potential rift in the UN is developing over coalition plans to take control of oil and reconstruction in Iraq.
Britain and the US are submitting a draft Resolution to the United Nations which proposes that sanctions against Iraq are lifted, but places control of the country’s oil reserves under US control for at least a year.
The proposal effectively removes UN control from the region and places it in the hands of the US-led coalition.
If accepted, the new Resolution recommends phasing out the Iraqi Oil for Food Programme in four months.
Iraqi oil revenues would be placed in a fund at the Iraqi Central Bank, managed by former deputy US Treasury Secretary Peter McPherson, for reconstruction and humanitarian aid.
A new body comprised of Britain, the United States, and possibly some of the other countries that provided troops, would form a body to be known as ‘The Authority’ and decide how income from the sale of Iraqi oil would be spent.
There is no provision made in the new Resolution for the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq, which is likely to prove a huge stumbling block in convincing the Security Council to accept the proposals.
UN sanctions on Iraq have been in place for 12 years and a proviso for lifting the trade ban had been the weapons inspectors’ return.
The UK, US, and Spain are pushing for a vote on the draft Resolution by June 3rd, when legislation giving the UN control over Iraq’s oil must be renewed. However, approval from other leading nations – Russia, France, China, and Germany – cannot be counted on as all opposed military action against Iraq.
The Security Council is due to hold a closed door meeting in New York today at 1030 local time (1430 GMT).
