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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,6313871,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- US denies move to phase out sanctions >From AFP 21apr03 THE US has not yet decided how to lift crippling UN sanctions on Iraq, the White House said yesterday in response to a report that Washington had settled on a gradual approach. The New York Times reported yesterday that according to anonymous administration officials, George W. Bush had decided to ask the UN Security Council to pass three or four resolutions that would lift the sanctions in phases over several months but leave the UN in charge of Iraqi oil sales for now. But a spokeswoman for the President, who is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for the Easter long weekend, said the US was still mapping the way forward. "No decisions have been made about the specifics of how to proceed," Claire Buchan said. The Times said phasing out sanctions was seen as a way to counteract France, Russia and other Security Council members that could oppose lifting sanctions unless the UN role in rebuilding Iraq is greater than that foreseen by Washington. According to the newspaper, administration officials fear legal action if the Security Council refuses to lift the sanctions, arguing that sales of Iraqi oil not sanctioned by the UN violate international law. "Nobody wants to have litigation on this," the Times quoted an administration official as saying. "For a while there was a lot of talk about one omnibus Security Council resolution on Iraq," a senior administration official reportedly said. "We're now thinking in terms of several resolutions and letting Iraqis build their economy in phases before they get full control of the oil." Some Bush administration officials wanted to see parts of the oil-for-food program turned over to the Iraqis but others argue it was too soon, the report said. "This is big league stuff," an administration official said of the program. "It's complex international economics, with a big portfolio in place. It's good to have Iraqis run it but that may take time. It makes sense to leave the current structure in place." That would also avoid a fight with France, Russia and others who might oppose turning Iraq's oil industry over to a new Iraqi government seen as handpicked by Washington, the report noted. But other parts of the economy could be turned over to the Iraqis without a fight in the UN, including imports of goods and services for agriculture and the civil service, administration officials said. Mr Bush called on the UN last week to lift economic sanctions on Iraq now that Saddam Hussein's regime had "passed into history". Mr Bush also called for an end to the UN-administered oil-for-food program, which since 1996 has enabled Iraq to export limited amounts of oil and use the revenues to buy basic humanitarian supplies. Moscow said it would oppose the proposal until UN inspectors confirmed the country had no weapons of mass destruction. French President Jacques Chirac has insisted that the UN be the one to decide how and when the sanctions should be lifted. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk