ZupanGOD
05-27-2003, 01:16 PM
By FELICITY BARRINGER
UNITED NATIONS, May 22 — Nearly seven weeks after Baghdad fell to American-led forces, the United Nations Security Council voted overwhelmingly today to end nearly 13 years of sanctions on Iraq, capping the swift military triumph with a significant diplomatic victory.
The resolution offered by the United States, Britain and Spain, which passed by a 14-to-0 vote, gives an international legal standing to the coalition forces' broad authority over the management of Iraq, over the formation of a new Iraqi government and over billions of dollars in annual oil revenues. It allows the exports of Iraqi petroleum products to resume and grants legal immunity for such sales until Dec. 31, 2007.
With the exception of a continuing arms embargo, the resolution ends an era of United Nations intervention in Iraq that began with the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Since then, the Security Council has passed 65 separate resolutions designed to contain Saddam Hussein's aggression, to prevent Iraq's development and deployment of unconventional weapons, and to feed the Iraqi people.
This week, Security Council members agreed to authorize the broad mandate sought by the United States after American concessions over the last week. The resolution calls on Secretary General Kofi Annan to appoint a special representative who now will have independent, though limited, authority to consult with Iraqi political factions as he works with American and British forces to form a new government.
The United Nations will also have a seat, along with international financial organizations, on an advisory board that will monitor the coalition-controlled Development Fund for Iraq. And within a year, the Security Council can revisit these issues.
At the Security Council meeting today, the chair reserved for Syria, the sole Arab member of the council, remained empty during the vote. Afterward, Fayssal Mekdad, the charge d'affaires of the Syrian mission here, said that Syria's request for extra time to deliberate had been ignored. Council members had waited for the Syrians for half an hour before the president, Pakistan's envoy, Munir Akram, called the vote.
After the 14 hands were raised around the horseshoe-shaped council table, John D. Negroponte, the United States ambassador, was the first envoy to speak to his colleagues, drawing a direct link between today's decision and the war, which many council members strongly opposed.
"The liberation of Iraq has cleared the path for today's action," he said, condemning Mr. Hussein's government as a state "unwilling adequately to feed its people, a state in which critical infrastructure projects were left to languish while luxurious palaces were built, and a state in which free political expression was cruelly repressed and punished."
He barely mentioned the issue of weapons of mass destruction, which have yet to be discovered by American and British forces in Iraq.
Ambassadors from France, Russia and Germany all indicated their reservations about the resolution, but they said it was an adequate compromise that reflected the obligations of the United States and Britain as occupying powers under international treaties. Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, the French envoy, told his colleagues that the resolution "provided a credible framework within which the international community will be able to lend support for the Iraqi people."
The German ambassador, Gunter Pleuger, told reporters after the meeting, "The war that we did not want, and the majority of the council did not want, has taken place." But, he continued, "we cannot undo history. We are now in a situation where we have to take action for the sake of the Iraqi people."
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Annan, the secretary general, said: "We should all be gratified that the council has come together to chart the way forward in Iraq. As you know, I have always held that the unity of this council is the indispensable foundation for effective action to maintain international peace and security and international law."
Mr. Annan said he would name a special representative "without delay." The Bush administration has made clear it would prefer to have Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, in the job. But it is unclear whether Mr. de Mello would accept the post, and some diplomats have suggested it would be best to have an Arabic speaker.
All the council ambassadors, with the exception of the absent Syrians, showed palpable relief at the end to the bitter dissension that culminated in the United States, Britain and Spain withdrawing their resolution to authorize military action in Iraq.
The resolution's adoption "will contribute to restore the necessary unity of purpose of the Security Council, unity which was bruised by division over the question of Iraq," said the Angolan ambassador, Ismael Gaspar Martins.
In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, whose relationship with fellow Europeans was battered after Britain joined the United States in its war, said today that the vote marked "a very important day in the U.N. because the international community has come back together."
And in Paris, the spokeswoman for President Jacques Chirac of France said Mr. Chirac spoke by phone with President Bush today, their first contact in more than a month.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, visiting Paris, called France's support today "a step in the right direction."
But, Mr. Powell added, "Does it mean that the disagreements of the past are simply totally forgotten? No."
Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced it was pulling back on some joint military activities.
Today's resolution, designated Security Council resolution 1483, allows for the possibility of the return of United Nations weapons inspectors, and the Untied States has already signaled its willingness to have inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency return to Iraq in the wake of the looting of a nuclear research center at Tuwaitha.
The United States remains opposed to the return of the United Nations' chemical, biological and missile inspection teams led by Hans Blix, even though Sir Jeremy Greenstock, made it clear in interviews on Wednesday and today that Britain has no objection to their return.
The resolution's grant of immunity on the sale of petroleum products through 2007 will allow whatever Iraqi government emerges time to restructure some $400 billion in debt accumulated during Mr. Hussein's reign.
Under the terms of the resolution, the oil-for-food program that has provided basic sustenance for more than 60 percent of the Iraqi population will be phased out over six months. During that time, Mr. Annan can complete the purchase of food and health-related and industrial products currently under contract, setting priorities that best meet the Iraqi people's needs.
When the program is concluded, the unspent portion of the $13 billion in its account will be transferred to the new Development Fund for Iraq, under the control of the the American-led coalition. In addition, $1 billion of that money will be transferred immediately to the new Development Fund, which is based at the central bank in Baghdad.
UNITED NATIONS, May 22 — Nearly seven weeks after Baghdad fell to American-led forces, the United Nations Security Council voted overwhelmingly today to end nearly 13 years of sanctions on Iraq, capping the swift military triumph with a significant diplomatic victory.
The resolution offered by the United States, Britain and Spain, which passed by a 14-to-0 vote, gives an international legal standing to the coalition forces' broad authority over the management of Iraq, over the formation of a new Iraqi government and over billions of dollars in annual oil revenues. It allows the exports of Iraqi petroleum products to resume and grants legal immunity for such sales until Dec. 31, 2007.
With the exception of a continuing arms embargo, the resolution ends an era of United Nations intervention in Iraq that began with the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Since then, the Security Council has passed 65 separate resolutions designed to contain Saddam Hussein's aggression, to prevent Iraq's development and deployment of unconventional weapons, and to feed the Iraqi people.
This week, Security Council members agreed to authorize the broad mandate sought by the United States after American concessions over the last week. The resolution calls on Secretary General Kofi Annan to appoint a special representative who now will have independent, though limited, authority to consult with Iraqi political factions as he works with American and British forces to form a new government.
The United Nations will also have a seat, along with international financial organizations, on an advisory board that will monitor the coalition-controlled Development Fund for Iraq. And within a year, the Security Council can revisit these issues.
At the Security Council meeting today, the chair reserved for Syria, the sole Arab member of the council, remained empty during the vote. Afterward, Fayssal Mekdad, the charge d'affaires of the Syrian mission here, said that Syria's request for extra time to deliberate had been ignored. Council members had waited for the Syrians for half an hour before the president, Pakistan's envoy, Munir Akram, called the vote.
After the 14 hands were raised around the horseshoe-shaped council table, John D. Negroponte, the United States ambassador, was the first envoy to speak to his colleagues, drawing a direct link between today's decision and the war, which many council members strongly opposed.
"The liberation of Iraq has cleared the path for today's action," he said, condemning Mr. Hussein's government as a state "unwilling adequately to feed its people, a state in which critical infrastructure projects were left to languish while luxurious palaces were built, and a state in which free political expression was cruelly repressed and punished."
He barely mentioned the issue of weapons of mass destruction, which have yet to be discovered by American and British forces in Iraq.
Ambassadors from France, Russia and Germany all indicated their reservations about the resolution, but they said it was an adequate compromise that reflected the obligations of the United States and Britain as occupying powers under international treaties. Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, the French envoy, told his colleagues that the resolution "provided a credible framework within which the international community will be able to lend support for the Iraqi people."
The German ambassador, Gunter Pleuger, told reporters after the meeting, "The war that we did not want, and the majority of the council did not want, has taken place." But, he continued, "we cannot undo history. We are now in a situation where we have to take action for the sake of the Iraqi people."
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Annan, the secretary general, said: "We should all be gratified that the council has come together to chart the way forward in Iraq. As you know, I have always held that the unity of this council is the indispensable foundation for effective action to maintain international peace and security and international law."
Mr. Annan said he would name a special representative "without delay." The Bush administration has made clear it would prefer to have Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, in the job. But it is unclear whether Mr. de Mello would accept the post, and some diplomats have suggested it would be best to have an Arabic speaker.
All the council ambassadors, with the exception of the absent Syrians, showed palpable relief at the end to the bitter dissension that culminated in the United States, Britain and Spain withdrawing their resolution to authorize military action in Iraq.
The resolution's adoption "will contribute to restore the necessary unity of purpose of the Security Council, unity which was bruised by division over the question of Iraq," said the Angolan ambassador, Ismael Gaspar Martins.
In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, whose relationship with fellow Europeans was battered after Britain joined the United States in its war, said today that the vote marked "a very important day in the U.N. because the international community has come back together."
And in Paris, the spokeswoman for President Jacques Chirac of France said Mr. Chirac spoke by phone with President Bush today, their first contact in more than a month.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, visiting Paris, called France's support today "a step in the right direction."
But, Mr. Powell added, "Does it mean that the disagreements of the past are simply totally forgotten? No."
Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced it was pulling back on some joint military activities.
Today's resolution, designated Security Council resolution 1483, allows for the possibility of the return of United Nations weapons inspectors, and the Untied States has already signaled its willingness to have inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency return to Iraq in the wake of the looting of a nuclear research center at Tuwaitha.
The United States remains opposed to the return of the United Nations' chemical, biological and missile inspection teams led by Hans Blix, even though Sir Jeremy Greenstock, made it clear in interviews on Wednesday and today that Britain has no objection to their return.
The resolution's grant of immunity on the sale of petroleum products through 2007 will allow whatever Iraqi government emerges time to restructure some $400 billion in debt accumulated during Mr. Hussein's reign.
Under the terms of the resolution, the oil-for-food program that has provided basic sustenance for more than 60 percent of the Iraqi population will be phased out over six months. During that time, Mr. Annan can complete the purchase of food and health-related and industrial products currently under contract, setting priorities that best meet the Iraqi people's needs.
When the program is concluded, the unspent portion of the $13 billion in its account will be transferred to the new Development Fund for Iraq, under the control of the the American-led coalition. In addition, $1 billion of that money will be transferred immediately to the new Development Fund, which is based at the central bank in Baghdad.