U.S. Says World United Against Iraq After U.N. Vote
WASHINGTON, June 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United States said Friday it managed to unite the world once again against Iraq after the U.N. Security Council agreed to restructure the fraying 11-year regime of sanctions against the Arab Muslim nation.
"The international community once again is united in its view of Iraq and what we need to do," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. All 15 members of the Security Council voted to adopt a resolution to extend an oil-for-food program meant to alleviate the impact of sanctions on Iraqi people by one month instead of the usual six months.
The resolution committed the Council to "consider new arrangements" for the trade embargo on Iraq by July 3rd. But Iraq said it rejected the resolution.
Boucher said the move foresaw a "smoother flow of goods for the Iraqi people" and would "improve controls on the Iraqi regime's ability to acquire weapons and threaten its neighbors."
The State Department also announced the United States has decided to release more than $800 million of holds on contracts under the program. Contracts must be vetted to ensure they do not contain items and technologies prohibited to Iraq, which are deemed useful to its ambitions of reconstructing its military.
The United States has now released $1.2 billion worth of holds on contracts since the beginning of May. "The release of these contracts will provide civilian goods for civilians in Iraq," Boucher added.
"It assists the Iraqi public in their endeavors without assisting the Iraqi regime in developing weapons."
Reinvigorating the sanctions regime against Iraq was named by President George W. Bush's administration as a key foreign policy goal when it came to power in January.
Limited exports of Iraqi oil under the oil-for-food program earned about $16 billion in the past year, more than two-thirds of which went into an escrow account to finance imports approved by the U.N.
After a 30-day review period, the Security Council will hold another vote on the specifics of the sanctions regime. Boucher also called on Iraq to comply with U.N. resolution 1284, which offers to suspend sanctions if the Iraqi government allows U.N. arms inspectors back into the country.
Meanwhile, a German delegation, including doctors and representatives of political parties, arrived Friday in Baghdad on a Bulgarian plane, in defiance of a decade-old embargo on flights to Iraq.
Dozens of flights from Arab and European countries have landed in Iraq since the reopening of Saddam International Airport in mid-August, in a challenge to the sanctions regime slapped on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
However, such flights have become to be more symbolic rather than substantial in helping end 11 years of crippling sanctions against the country, which has seen thousands of deaths as a result.
