The eight-page draft resolution would remove all sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990 except for an arms embargo. But the document omits any reference to UN inspectors returning to Iraq to check on weapons of mass destruction, as 12 years of Security Council resolutions demanded.

Russia, France and others are expected to raise questions about the dearth of international arms inspections, nominal role given to UN officials and US-British control of the oil revenues, now supervised by the United Nations.

“The big debate will be the balance between the coalition forces and the United Nations, with several members wanting a stronger, more defined UN role,” one council diplomat said. “And the debate will certainly be about the oil money.”

The draft, obtained by Reuters and circulated to key Security Council members, would phase out the current UN oil-for-food humanitarian program over four months.

It would allow Iraq to sell oil again without UN controls. The monies would be deposited in an “Iraqi Assistance Fund” for humanitarian purposes and reconstruction.

This new institution would have an advisory board that would include officials from the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and others.

But decisions on where to spend the money would be made by the United States and Britain and their allies in the war that deposed President Saddam Hussein, in consultation with an Iraqi interim authority and until a new Iraqi government is formed.

The draft does not call for the return of UN arms inspectors to verify that Iraq no longer has weapons of mass destruction, as specified in some 16 earlier UN resolutions.

No Role for UN Inspectors

US Ambassador John Negroponte, who was briefing council members, said the Bush administration did not see “any role for the UN (inspectors) for the foreseeable future.”

“The coalition has taken over the process of inspecting in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction,” he told reporters.

The document asks Secretary-General Kofi Annan to appoint a special coordinator to supervise UN humanitarian assistance and “reconstruction activities in Iraq.”

The coordinator would play a nominal role in establishing governing institutions, promoting human rights, legal and judicial reforms, and helping build an Iraqi police force.

The resolution would phase out the UN oil-for-food humanitarian program over four months but honor “priority civilian goods” in contracts already approved. It was unclear whether all approved contracts for supplies, including US$1.6 billion in Russian contracts, would be fulfilled.

Without adoption of the resolution, no Iraqi or US entity in Baghdad has the legal authority to export oil. The United States wants the measure passed by June 3, when the oil-for-food program needs to be renewed.

The program was designed to ease the impact of sanctions imposed when Saddam's troops invaded Kuwait in August 1990. It allowed Iraq to sell oil to purchase food, medicine and other civilian goods under UN supervision. Oil revenues are deposited into a UN escrow account to pay suppliers.

The oil-for-food fund now has some US$13 billion in outstanding contracts for food, medicine and other civilian goods ordered by the ousted Iraqi government.

(China Daily May 9, 2003)