International

U.N. vote has a hidden sting

By Kesava Menon

Manama (Bahrain) May 15. Though it was expected the U.N. Security Council's vote yesterday converting the nature of the sanctions has been a set back for Iraq. Not only did the U.S. proposal for a "smart sanctions'' got the unanimous approval of the Security Council but the new arrangement includes a sting that makes it little different from the arrangements in place so far while it has helped the U.S. earn some brownie points.

Yesterday all fifteen members of the Council voted for the smart sanctions regime. The smart sanctions regime was intended to change the emphasis of the "oil for food'' programme under which Iraq is allowed to sell oil to pay for the import of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods. As per current arrangements the money that Iraq earns from its oil exports are paid into a U.N.-controlled escrow fund.

A Security Council committee approves payments out of the fund for contracts that have been cleared by it. So far the supervisory committee was examining every contract to see whether any item sought to be imported by Iraq could be used for military as well as civilian purposes. Contracts for the import of items that could be put to such dual use were not approved. What has been put in place is a system whereby the Security Council has drawn up a list of items that will require prior approval while the rest will not.

Theoretically speaking this change should help Iraq since it frees up a whole lot of item in respect of which they will not have to seek the approval of the supervisory committee. However the list includes items that are very broadly categorised-items like computer and telecommunication equipment are on the list for which prior approval is necessary. So in practical terms the change might not amount to much.

Besides the Security Council has retained a crucial component of the old arrangements. Any member of the Council can object to, and thereby hold up, any contract entered into by Iraq irrespective of whether the items in question are on the proscribed list or not. This means that all Iraqi imports, and not just those on the proscribed list, continue to be under Security Council scrutiny. With the U.S. and U.K. being permanent members the restrictions on Iraqi imports can be just as severe as they were before the sanctions smartened up. The U.S. and U.K. between them currently hold up $ 5 billion worth of Iraqi import contracts and they are to only countries that have so intervened.

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