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Iraq I: Security Council Lifts Sanctions; Authorizes Roles For U.S., U.K., U.N. By Jim Wurst Fourteen of the 15 Security Council members voted in favor of the measure. Syria, a nonpermanent council member, did not attend the meeting. Syrian Deputy Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad told reporters after the session that Syria’s absence was a question of the timing of the vote, not the substance of the resolution. He said the Syrian Cabinet was meeting on the issue as the vote was taken this morning. “The issue of time was the basis element in not participating,” he said. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte called the decision “the turning of a historical page that would brighten the future of a people and a region.” He added, “By recognizing the fluidity of the political situation and that decisions will be made on the ground, the Security Council has provided a flexible framework … to assist the Iraqi people in determining their political future.” British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said, “The resolution gives a sound basis for the international community to come together, in the interests of the Iraqi people, consistent with international law.” Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere of France, which was a vocal critic of the invasion, called the resolution “a credible framework in which the international community will be able to lend support to the Iraqi people.” “The resolution fleshes out the essential role of the United Nations,” he added. “More than ever before, the strong, independent involvement of the United Nations in defining and conducting the political process will condition the success of this process.” The new measure, Resolution 1483, recognizes the United States and United Kingdom as the occupying powers in Iraq and grants them control over most aspects of life in Iraq until a legitimate government is established. The resolution does not spell out a time frame for this to happen. The resolution also authorizes Secretary General Kofi Annan to appoint a special representative to Iraq who will have specific responsibilities to assist in humanitarian relief and economic and political reconstruction in the country. Annan told the council he intends to appoint the special representative “without delay,” but gave no indication of whom that might be. Press reports have suggested Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, as a likely candidate. Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian, served as the U.N. special representative during East Timor’s transition to independence. The resolution went through four revisions as the sponsors — the United States, United Kingdom and Spain — sought to address concerns that the United Nations had a greater and better defined role in post-war Iraq and that the occupying powers not be given too free a hand in running the country. All sanctions, except the arms embargo, end immediately. The oil-for-food program, which was established to ensure civilian needs were met despite sanctions, will stay under Annan’s control for six months to ensure basic civilian needs are met. However, most oil revenues will be controlled by the Development Fund for Iraq, a fund authorized by the resolution. Negroponte said it would be established immediately. The United States and United Kingdom will control the fund. Negroponte said there will be “transparency in all processes and United Nations participation in monitoring the sale of Iraqi oil.” He added, “The authority will disburse the fund only for purposes it determines to benefit the Iraqi people.” In contrast to the debates that led up to the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq and the failure to achieve agreement on authorizing military action during which diplomats did not hide their impatience with fellow council members, delegates this morning highlighted their new-found agreement. “The United States is appreciative of the constructive spirit with which the council has considered and strengthened the provision of the text,” Negroponte said. “In this resolution we have left behind the divisions of the past for the sake of the people of Iraq,” said Pleuger, who called it “a compromise reached after intensive negotiations” that contains “very substantial improvements” from the first draft. Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov said the decision “definitely was a compromise … made possible only on a collective basis.” However, the council members most critical of the invasion and most supportive of a strong U.N. role in post-war Iraq, including Russia, France and Germany, focused on how the resolution grants the United Nations responsibilities, not how it legitimizes the actions of the occupying powers. “The significance of it [the resolution] is primarily that it creates an international legal basis for joint efforts to be made by the entire international community to deal with the crisis and it outlines clear guidelines and principles for these efforts,” Lavrov said. Pleuger said, “The resolution provides the framework in which the United Nations has been strengthened and can take a central role in the political and economic process.” Speaking to reporters after the session, Annan said the resolution provides “a legal basis for [U.N.] activities in Iraq … I do not want to get into the debate of is this ex post facto legitimization of what has happened. We do have a legal basis to move forward.” Negroponte added that the United States and United Kingdom would submit quarterly reports on implementing the resolution. After the meeting, the council began another session with a briefing by Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette on the humanitarian situation in Iraq.
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