Factbox: US sponsored Iraq resolution draft

Following are highlights of the third and latest version of a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on Iraq, co-sponsored by Britain and Spain.

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The United Nations will consider
the new draft resolution this week

The sponsors are pressing for a vote this week.

 

  • The resolution would lift all trade and financial sanctions imposed on Baghdad after Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Only an arms embargo would remain.

  • The United States and Britain submitted letters to the Security Council recognizing their obligations as occupying powers. The text refers to them as the “Authority.” 

  •  The resolution would establish a “Development Fund for Iraq” for reconstruction to be held by the Central Bank of Iraq. There would be an International Advisory and Monitoring Board, whose duties are not yet defined, composed of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development and the World Bank.

  • All proceeds from oil sales would go into the Development Fund until an “internationally recognized” Iraqi government is established. The monies would be “disbursed at the direction” of the Authority (United States and Britain), in consultation with the Iraqi interim administration.

  • Five percent of the oil revenues are to be deposited into a compensation fund (compared to the current 25 percent) for claims resulting from Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

  • The resolution phases out the current U.N. oil-for-food program, which has about $13 billion, over a period of six months. It would transfer $1 billion, minus U.N. costs, of unencumbered funds immediately to the Iraqi Development Fund. The United Nations would evaluate which goods currently in the pipeline should still be sent to Iraq. But there are no guarantees all past contracts would be honoured.

  • All monies from Iraq’s oil sales or those in the Development Fund are immune from claims and lawsuits until 2008 unless the Security Council decides otherwise. But buyers of Iraqi oil are not protected from all suits, particularly in case of an oil spill or other ecological damage.

  • The document asks for a restructuring of Iraq’s massive debt through the Paris Club. This informal group of 19 wealthy nations restructures debt for emerging countries.

  • Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to name a high-level special representative who would “work intensively” with the United States and Britain to restore Iraqi institutions and promote reconstruction, human rights, legal and judicial reform. The envoy would have “independent” duties.

  • The resolution remains in effect until a permanent internationally recognized Iraqi government is established, which could take years.

  • The Security Council could “revisit” the mandates of U.N. weapons inspectors as set forth in resolutions since 1991 but does not say what their future duties would be.

  • The document asks all nations to watch out for, return, and prohibit trade in Iraq cultural properties looted from Iraq’s National Museum and other institutions.

  • The resolution asks the United Nations to continue seeking the return of missing Kuwaiti property and prisoners.
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