US President George W. Bush will ask the UN to lift economic sanctions against Iraq in phases, leaving the UN in charge of Iraqi oil sales for now, the New York Times reported yesterday.
Instead of a single Security Council resolution to lift sanctions, Washington will seek three or four resolutions over several months, the daily said, citing administration officials who requested anonymity.
The new approach follows cool responses from France, Russia and other UN Security Council members to the US call, issued Wednesday, to lift sanctions against Iraq and end the UN-administered "oil-for-food" program.
Administration officials fear that if the Security Council vetoed the lifting of sanctions, it would open the way for lawsuits 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 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 want to see parts of the oil-for-food program turned over to Iraqis, but others argue that it is too soon, the report said.
"This is big league stuff," an administration official said of the program, in which oil is sold and the proceeds are used to buy medicine and food for Iraqis.
"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, officials said.
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