US, Britain Press New UN Resolution on Iraq against Russian Concerns

16/05/2003| IslamWeb

The United States and Britain will bring to the UN a new version of a draft resolution to lift economic sanctions against Iraq and put its vast oil reserves under their control for a year, in a bid to meet continued reservations from member states, notably Russia. Council president Munir Akram, Pakistan's ambassador to the UN, said legal experts would meet Thursday afternoon to examine "a revised text which the co-sponsors will offer." US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was working to satisfy Moscow by modifying the resolution, and the Russian press predicted that Russia would eventually accept it. Powell said his talks Wednesday in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov at no point raised the possibility of a Russian veto or abstention in the Security Council. "No, we did not have to talk about that because we are working with the Russian side to satisfy their concerns. What we are looking for is a UN resolution that everybody can agree to in the Security Council because it's a resolution that will help the Iraqi people," Powell told the Moscow Echo radio. Powell said that both sides had shown they were willing to be flexible in the search for compromise. Powell said Wednesday that he and Ivanov would "be working closely in the days ahead on the resolution that is pending before the UN to see if we can come into agreement with our other Security Council partners." However, he conceded there were "outstanding issues", in particular over Moscow's insistence that UN inspectors should be allowed back to Iraq to certify that it has no weapons of mass destruction before the sanctions regime can be removed. Moscow's position is broadly backed by France and China, fellow veto-wielding members of the Security Council that also opposed the US-led invasion. With substantial Soviet-era oil interests in Iraq, Russia is anxious to secure UN involvement to prevent the United States from taking control of Baghdad's oil riches until it hands over power to an Iraqi administration. Powell also said the future Iraqi administration would "take fully into account" Baghdad's eight billion dollar debt obligations to Russia. "We estimate that Iraq has to countries around the world roughly 100 to 120 billion dollars of debt, of which eight billion dollars is Russian debt," Powell said. "As we move forward we expect that we will have to examine this debt to find out how best to deal with it, either by stretching it out, refinancing it. "And I'm sure the new Iraqi government will take fully into account its obligations to the Russian Federation," he added. The United States told the Security Council Wednesday it would not invalidate debt claims of up to 400 billion dollars on Iraq, but wanted a grace period before they could be pressed, a council diplomat said. The diplomat quoted US sources as saying: "We are trying to ensure that the oil and oil sales are protected for a short period of time in order to get the Iraqi economy jump-started." In a comment Thursday, Moscow's liberal Kommersant daily said, "Washington is asking Russia not to oppose the adoption of its resolution lifting all sanctions on Iraq, except for the embargo on arms sales. Moscow is ready to do this." "The United States wants the role of the United Nations reduced to a minimum (...) and for Russia, the main protagonist in the UN, to sign up to this. This is the US price for the normalisation of relations between the two countries. And Moscow seems ready to pay it," the newspaper added. Opposition daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta said, "Moscow is no longer speaking about a complete rejection of the US draft resolution but is expressing the hope that it will be possible to reach a mutually acceptable agreement." The pro-Kremlin Vremya Novostei commented that Russia was continuing to insist "out of inertia" on the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq. During Powell's visit "Russia and the United States sought to show that the dispute over Iraq is in the past and the stability of bilateral relations is for the long-term," it added. In Iraq, however, groups handpicked by the United States to lead the way in creating a post-Saddam Hussein government have begun openly challenging Washington's outline for how the country should be run. As they prepared Thursday for their first talks with the new US boss in Iraq, Paul Bremer, officials here stepped up criticism of what they said was an expanding US grip on Iraq's future. The mounting criticism, unspoken in the first weeks after Saddam was toppled on April 9, has added to the challenge facing Bremer, who took the reins of the US administration in Iraq this week with a mandate to restore law and order, get the country back on its feet and steer the way to a new government. **PHOTO CAPTION*** The UN Security Council President, Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan speaks to the media after the Security Council consultaions on Iraq at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Friday, May 9, 2003. (AP Photo/Osamu Honda)