UN deal on Iraq oil, food programme nearly settled

The UN Security Council voted unanimously yesterday for a five-month routine extension of the Iraq "oil-for-food" programme after Russia forced the United States and Britain to put off a plan to revamp 11-year-old sanctions against Baghdad.

Haggling continued until the last minute with Russia insisting all references to the U.S.-British proposals be deleted. In the end the council included one oblique reference to discussions of the proposals among a series of resolutions pertaining to the oil-for food programme.

A vote had to be taken by midnight last night before the expiration of the oil-for-food programme, which allows Iraq to export oil and buy civilian goods under UN supervision to offset the impact of the sanctions. They were imposed when Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

Russia, which has commercial interests in Iraq, wants the sanctions suspended. It threatened to veto the U.S.-British plan to overhaul the embargoes as part of the oil-for-food programme, forcing a delay of at least five months and now wants no further discussions on it.

The U.S.-British "smart sanctions" would have eased civilian imports to Iraq while tightening controls on smuggling oil and prohibited weapons. One aim was to counter Iraqi claims that the sanctions were responsible for the hardships of ordinary Iraqis.

Iraq stopped oil sales on June 4 to protest discussions on the U.S.-British plan. It has said it would resume shipments if the oil-for-food plan were extended without any mention of the proposed sanctions overhaul. But it is expected to follow Russia's lead.

Baghdad had also threatened to stop oil flows to its neighbours, Jordan and Turkey, if they cooperated with the United States and Britain. Both countries criticized the "smart sanctions," which would require them to subject their trade with Iraq to some U.N. oversight.

The Russian veto threat was a setback for the new administration of President George W. Bush, which had given a new policy on Iraq a high priority. With a five-month delay, Iraq for now got what it demanded - a continuation of the status quo, which Western diplomats say allows President Saddam Hussein leeway in illegal trade and kickbacks on oil sales.

The delay - perhaps indefinitely - on a revamp of the sanctions may also bolster Pentagon conservatives who prefer military rather than diplomatic options with Iraqi leaders. But British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock and U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham both told the council they intended to push ahead with their new sanctions plan.

"There is broad support in the council for U.S.-UK efforts to continue," said Cunningham. "It would have been adopted today were it not for a threat of a veto." China and France had agreed to a key provision in the U.S.-British plan, a list of "dual use" goods that has to be reviewed by the council to make sure supplies cannot be used for military purposes. The original 23-page list submitted by the United States had been trimmed to 10 pages.

Russia has presented its own alternative resolution, which would suspend sanctions shortly after UN arms inspectors are allowed back into Iraq. They could be reimposed if Baghdad failed to cooperate with the inspectors, a proposal most council members reject as unrealistic.

A key obstacle to suspending the sanctions is for inspectors to determine whether Baghdad still has any weapons of mass destruction. The inspectors have not been allowed to return to Iraq since they left the country in mid-December 1998, on the eve of a U.S.-British bombing raid.