another Reuters article - Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to end 13-year-old sanctions on Iraq (news - web sites) and gave the United States and Britain extraordinary powers to run the country and its lucrative oil industry.
Despite misgivings by many council members, the 14-0 vote was a victory for the Bush administration, which made some last-minute concessions that opened the door to an independent, albeit limited U.N. role and the possibility of U.N. weapons inspectors returning to post-war Iraq.
The only opposition came from Syria, Iraq's neighbor and the sole Arab member of the 15-nation Security Council. Syria left its seat empty and did not cast a vote.
"The lifting of sanctions marks a momentous event for the people of Iraq," U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte told the council after the vote. "It is time for the Iraqi people to benefit from their natural resources."
And France, Germany, China, Russia and others who had opposed the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s government all voted "yes" but said the resolution was less than perfect.
"The war that we did not want, and the majority of the council did not want, has taken place," Germany's U.N. ambassador, Gunter Pleuger, told reporters. "
"We cannot undo history. We are now in a situation where we have to take action for the sake of the Iraqi people," Pleuger said.
Britain, a staunch U.S. supporter, made clear that unlike Washington, it wanted the return of U.N. arms inspectors.
Without U.N. action to lift the sanctions the United States would have been in a legal no man's land, with many firms unwilling to engage in trade with Iraq.
OIL FLOWS TO RESUME
Some 8.3 million barrels of Iraqi oil stored at the Turkish port of Ceyhan can now be exported. "The oil is ready to flow. The tanks are full," one council diplomat said. "I think you will find it will move quite quickly."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) said he would name a special representative for Iraq shortly. The United States has signaled it prefers Sergio Vieira de Mello, currently the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"Whatever differences there have been in the recent past, we now have a new basis on which to work. And we must all work very hard, keeping the interests of Iraqis at the forefront of all our efforts," Annan told the Security Council.
The final compromise in the seven-page resolution was an agreement by Washington for a Security Council review within 12 months on the implementation of the resolution. But the measure does not need to be renewed and stays in effect until an internationally recognized Iraqi government is established.
French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said the resolution, while not "perfect," provided "a credible framework within which the international community will be able to lend support for the Iraqi people."
The U.N. sanctions were imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. But after Saddam's fall, the United States argued there was no reason to continue the trade and financial embargoes.
The resolution would give the United States and Britain broad powers to run Iraq and sell its oil to fund reconstruction. It would also protect Iraq against lawsuits or attachments of its oil revenues until a permanent Iraqi government is established.