ARABS-UN - July 7 - 'Sanctions Hinder Production Capacity'.Speaking at a conference on ME investment, Iraq's UN ambassador and chief negotiator for the oil-for-food programme The Oil-for-Food Programme, established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986) and terminated in late 2003, was intended to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi , Abdul Al Anbari, assails some members of the UN Security Council for seeking to prolong a 10-year regime of stringent trade sanctions Trade sanctions are trade penalties imposed by one or more countries on one or more other countries. Typically the sanctions take the form of import tariffs (duties), licensing schemes or other administrative hurdles. . He says: "The real objective of certain Security Council members is to keep sanctions in place while Iraq keeps exporting oil", adding: "They want to keep Iraq in a cage". (The UN imposed sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait which resulted in the 7 month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait[4] , which was reversed by US-led forces in the 1991 Gulf War. But since 1996 the world body has allowed Iraq to sell oil for humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. under its so-called oil-for-food programme.) Anbari blasts a UN resolution passed in Dec. 1999 which would suspend sanctions once Iraq cooperated with weapons inspections. He adds although Resolution 1284 also eliminated the revenue ceiling on the oil-for-food programme, "by blocking contracts for spare parts Spare parts, also referred to as Service Parts is a term used to indicate extra parts available and in proximity to the mechanical item, such as a automobile, boat, engine, for which they might be used. Spare parts are also called “spares. for our oil sector, the Sanctions Committee has effectively capped our production capacity". Iraqi political analyst Burhan Mahmud Al Chalabi tells the conference: "Resolution 1284 is fundamentally flawed. It's designed to legitimise Verb 1. legitimise - make legal; "Marijuana should be legalized" decriminalise, decriminalize, legalise, legalize, legitimate, legitimatise, legitimatize, legitimize and prolong the sanctions regime". Chalabi calls on Britain to break the impasse between Iraq and the US by reopening a dialogue, which would help clarify the sanctions-easing resolution. Chalabi says the resolution fails to address the need for economic rehabilitation in Iraq. He adds an immediate injection of some US$30 bn was needed to boost the economy. A Western oil executive says: "If we could get Iraq and the US talking about economic solutions to the future oil gap, we could have a breakthrough on the political front". |
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