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12 May 2003

Proposed U.N. Resolution Would Help Iraqis Build Their Own Future

(Assistant Secretary Holmes briefs at Foreign Press Center, May 12)
(470)
By David Anthony Denny
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United Nations Security Council "needs to act
quickly to immediately lift the sanctions that have been imposed for
many years on Iraq," according to the U.S. assistant secretary of
state for international organization affairs.
Kim Holmes, who briefed journalists at the Washington Foreign Press
Center May 12, said the reason for the sanctions -- the threat of
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the hands of Saddam Hussein's
regime -- no longer exists. A factor adding urgency to the need for
passage of a resolution lifting the sanctions, Holmes said, is the
June 3 expiration of the current term of the U.N. Oil-for-Food
Program.
"[W]e need to move quickly in order to not only lift the sanctions but
also deal with the fate of the Oil-for-Food Program," Holmes said. The
process requires serious thought and also time, he said, to make sure
that the supply of humanitarian commodities purchased under the
Oil-for-Food Program continues even as the program itself is brought
to an end.
Holmes said it's also necessary to lift the sanctions "in order to get
the Iraqi economy started again, in order to have free trade and an
economic transformation, so the Iraqi people can be taking care of
themselves in the future. It's important that the situation in Iraq
return to normal as quickly as possible, and we believe that lifting
sanctions is a necessary part of that."
Holmes said the draft resolution, co-sponsored by Spain, the United
Kingdom and the United States, contains language that would signal to
nations of the international community "how they can help the Iraqi
people return to normalcy."
A third important provision contained in the draft resolution is its
definition of the "vital role of the United Nations in Iraq," he said.
Specifically, the draft calls for the creation of a U.N. special
coordinator for Iraq who would be responsible for coordinating U.N.
humanitarian programs, facilitating the development of Iraqi civil
administration, and assisting in the development of a representative
government in Iraq.
"There are other provisions about judicial and legal reforms, police
reforms, other roles that we believe that the United Nations should
take responsibility for" as part of the mandate of this U.N. special
coordinator, Holmes said.
Other provisions contained in the draft resolution, said Holmes,
include:
-- Barring Iraqis who have committed crimes from receiving safe haven
in other countries;
-- Establishing a ban on international trade of Iraqi cultural
property to protect Iraq's cultural heritage; and
-- Continuing the funding of the U.N. Compensation Commission, which
deals with outstanding claims arising from Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)