#7
Vremya Novostei
May 8, 2002
NEW SANCTIONS WITH OLD PROBLEMS
Russia, the United States, and sanctions against Iraq
Author: Elena Suponina
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ, WHICH HAVE BEEN IN FORCE FOR TWELVE YEARS ALREADY, MAY SOON BE FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED. TODAY THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL WILL VOTE ON A PLAN WHICH HAS BEEN THE CENTER OF HEATED DEBATES AMONG RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN EXPERTS. AT LAST THEY HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT.

International sanctions against Iraq, which have been in force for twelve years already, may soon be fundamentally changed. Today the UN Security Council will vote on a plan which has been the center of heated debates among Russian and American experts. At last they have reached an agreement. The Washington Post, describing the project as purely American, reports general approval from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, including Russia.

Companies which have become accustomed to working with their Iraqi partners via the existing, complicated, schemes will have to change their methods of operation. This primarily concerns Russian companies, since Russia is Iraq's largest trade partner, with turnover of more than $2 billion a year. The project envisages setting out a simplified list of goods which can be imported into Iraq, without long and unpleasant discussions in the UN Sanctions Committee. However, goods which are not on the list will be monitored even more strictly, or maybe even prohibited. The changes do not imply improvements in any case. The new regime of sales may not seem easier to all, although American experts, as well as their Russian colleagues, insist on this. Some will find it harder to trade with Iraq under the new sanctions, and the United States is sure to keep control over trade with this Persian Gulf state.

The description of technical details of the project runs to more than 200 pages. The Foreign Ministry says that Moscow has managed to soften the original US plan, which was approved at once by all the other members of the UN Security Council, even China and France. However, Iraq, whose opinion does not interest the United States very much, distrusted this project. Baghdad is in no hurry to express its point of view, but it is on the alert. Our sources in Iraq note that the impending changes do not imply that the oil and gas fields of Iraq will be developed soon. This is the most important issue for Russia and Iraq. There is no chance that the sanctions against Iraq will be lifted.

(Translated by Daria Brunova)

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