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| Author: | Sharon Otterman |
|---|
May 22, 2003
The United States and Britain will have temporary authority to sell Iraq's oil, according to a much-amended resolution approved Thursday in a 14-0 United Nations Security Council vote. Oil sales will be overseen by an international monitoring board and take place in consultation with Iraqi leaders. More generally, the resolution removes a sweeping ban on international trade with Iraq, facilitating the country's re-entry into the world economy.
Yes. Handing control of Iraq and its resources to the United States and Britain will, in the eyes of some, give legitimacy to the invasion of Iraq. Because the invasion did not have Security Council approval, some nations and commentators considered it a violation of international law.
Syria. The nation, the only representative of the Middle East now on the 15-member council, didn't participate in the vote.
It seems so. There are eight million to nine million barrels of Iraqi oil in storage at the Turkish port of Ceyhan that can be sold immediately, according to Mohammed al-Juburi, the new director of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization.
The United States and Britain made a number of important changes to the draft, such as strengthening the U.N.'s role in Iraq, reviving the possibility of the return of U.N. weapons inspectors, and permitting the United Nations to review progress in Iraq in one year. But overall, their decision to approve the resolution was seen as a sign that their interest in easing strains with the United States and stabilizing Iraq had overcome their reluctance to appear to endorse the American-led war.
Until an "internationally recognized, representative government is established." There is no set time limit, though after one year, the United Nations may review the situation and could revoke its blessing of the U.S.-led authority.
The Oil for Food Program, which allowed Saddam Hussein's regime to sell oil under strict U.N. guidelines, would end in six months. The U.N. secretary general could, in coordination with the United States and the Iraqi interim authority, elect to honor contracts already approved under the U.N. program. This is a particularly important issue for Russia: of the $10 billion now in the program, some $1.5 billion is thought to be earmarked for work contracted with Russian companies.
It allows Iraq to sell a limited amount of oil to pay for food, medicine, and other civilian needs. About $27 billion has been spent through the program since 1995. Experts estimate that, before the war began, 60 percent of Iraqis relied on Oil for Food for assistance. Its current authorization expires June 3.
The sanctions regime was first established in U.N. Security Council Resolution 661 after Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait. That resolution barred Iraq from engaging in most international trade. After Iraq was driven from Kuwait, the sanctions remained in place, to pressure Baghdad to surrender its weapons of mass destruction. A major modification occurred in April 1995, when the Security Council approved Resolution 986, which established the Oil for Food Program.
Two weeks before the United Nations voted to lift sanctions, the United States suspended its own 1990 Iraq Sanctions Act, which restricted the export of many goods, such as high technology products. This will allow U.S. companies under government contract to import goods to Iraq, such as laptop computers, that the United States deems necessary for Iraq's reconstruction. Second, it has relaxed rules which prohibited U.S. companies and individuals from engaging in trade with Iraq.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, they can:
Weapons sales to Iraq remain prohibited under U.S. and U.N. rules.
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