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UN Security Council approves Iraq aanctions plan
The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of a US-Russian compromise resolution that pledges to revise sanctions against Iraq within six months and extends the existing UN oil-for-food program for Baghdad until then.
The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of a US-Russian compromise resolution that pledges to revise sanctions against Iraq within six months and extends the existing UN oil-for-food program for Baghdad until then.
The vote signified an unusual show of unity between the Washington and Moscow, which have been feuding for years on policy over Iraq but have drawn closer since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Said US Ambassador John Negroponte: "It's an important step forward in terms of the unity of the Security Council vis a vis Iraq and I think it should send a signal to Iraq that we are determined to press forward with this program."
Under the oil-for-food program, Iraq can sell oil and use the proceeds to buy food, medicine and many other supplies, an exception to the sanctions imposed in August 1990 when Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait. But oil revenues must be deposited in a UN account out of which suppliers are paid.
The program, which would have expired on Friday, must be renewed every six months.
In the resolution adopted on Thursday, Russia agreed to approve by May 30 a new "goods review list" that council members would have to approve separately and a key element of earlier US-British proposals to revise the sanctions.
All civilian goods not on the list do not have to go through such procedures.
In return, the United States agreed to look again at gaps in a December 1999 resolution that outlines vague steps toward suspending the 11-year-old sanctions -- providing Iraq allows UN weapons inspectors to resume their work.
Bureau Report
The vote signified an unusual show of unity between the Washington and Moscow, which have been feuding for years on policy over Iraq but have drawn closer since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Said US Ambassador John Negroponte: "It's an important step forward in terms of the unity of the Security Council vis a vis Iraq and I think it should send a signal to Iraq that we are determined to press forward with this program."
Under the oil-for-food program, Iraq can sell oil and use the proceeds to buy food, medicine and many other supplies, an exception to the sanctions imposed in August 1990 when Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait. But oil revenues must be deposited in a UN account out of which suppliers are paid.
The program, which would have expired on Friday, must be renewed every six months.
In the resolution adopted on Thursday, Russia agreed to approve by May 30 a new "goods review list" that council members would have to approve separately and a key element of earlier US-British proposals to revise the sanctions.
All civilian goods not on the list do not have to go through such procedures.
In return, the United States agreed to look again at gaps in a December 1999 resolution that outlines vague steps toward suspending the 11-year-old sanctions -- providing Iraq allows UN weapons inspectors to resume their work.
Bureau Report