AP on new Security Council Resolution: passed with abstentions from Russia, France, China

[Hajji Hamzah <hamzah.hajji@DELETETHISdtn.ntl.com>]

>                 Key points of U.N. Council's new resolution on Iraq
>
                  December 17, 1999

                  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- The U.N. Security
Council's new landmark
                  resolution on Iraq would restart arms inspections in
Iraq and suspend
                  trade sanctions if Baghdad complies with disarmament
demands. 

                  The sanctions were imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in
August 1990.
                  The scrapping of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
are a key                           requirement for easing the
sanctions. Arms inspectors have not been
                  in Iraq since a bombing campaign by the United States
and Britain
                  a year ago. 

                  Following are the main points of the resolution. 

                  ARMS CONTROL 

                  The new arms watchdog, called UNMOVIC, or the U.N.
Monitoring,
                  Verification and Inspection Commission, would replace
the current U.N.
                  Special Commission. U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan
has to appoint
                  an executive chairman of UNMOVIC subject to council
approval within 30
                  days of adoption of the resolution. 

                  UNMOVIC, searching for Iraq's chemical, biological
and                                  ballistic-missile programs, and the
International Atomic Energy
                  Agency (IAEA), concerned with Iraq's nuclear programs,
would draw up
                  work schedules within 60 days after they begin
operations.
                  They would submit a list of key disarmament tasks to
Iraq, subject
                  to council approval. 

                  OIL EXPORTS 

                  Immediately after the resolution is adopted, the cap
is lifted on
                  how much oil Iraq can sell, now set at $5.26 billion
every six
                  months under an "oil-for-food" program. But all other
controls,
                  including depositing Iraq's oil revenues into an
escrow fund,
                  would stay in place. 

                  The council promises to consider additional Iraqi oil
export
                  routes in addition to those now used: the Gulf port of
Mina al-Bakr
                  and a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. 

                  Parts and equipment to upgrade Iraq's oil industry
will also be
                  expedited through pre-approved lists by a group of
experts.
                  A panel first must survey Iraq's oil industry and
recommend
                  improvements. The current limit of $300 million every
six months
                  can be lifted. 

                  Annan is to recommend options for allowing oil
companies to
                  invest in Iraq. But the council will not make a
decision on
                  his proposals until sanctions are suspended. 

                  IMPORTS INTO IRAQ 

                  The resolution would immediately streamline procedures
for
                  importing foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medical
supplies,
                  agricultural equipment and educational items into
Iraq.
                  A list of approved goods would be drawn up without
referring
                  each item for approval to the Security Council's
sanctions
                  committee, as at present. But suppliers would still be
paid
                  from a U.N. escrow account into which the oil revenues
are
                  deposited. Annan is to recommend how some of the oil
revenues
                  can be used for purchases of goods produced in Iraq. 

                  AIR TRAVEL 

                  Iraq, under an air embargo, can fly planes in the
Hajj,
                  the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah, after
notifying
                  the Security Council. 

                  SANCTIONS SUSPENSION 

                  Once a new arms control commission is organized and
functional,
                  sanctions could be suspended by a vote of the Security
Council
                  after UNMOVIC reports Iraq has made progress on key
disarmament
                  tasks and cooperated with inspectors during a 120-day
test period.
                  The precise level of progress or cooperation is left
deliberately
                  vague in the resolution. 

                  Any suspension would have to be renewed every 120
days. If arms
                  officials say Iraq is not cooperating, the suspension
of the
                  sanctions expires on the fifth day after their
negative report
                  unless the council decides otherwise. 

                  The suspension will cover imports and exports of
civilian goods.
                  But the suspension of other sanctions, including air
travel or
                  financial transactions, has not been determined yet.
                  Financial controls to make sure Iraq cannot import
weapons will
                  be worked out among council members over the next
year. 
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