Germany on Friday, November 30 welcomed the decision by the UN Security Council to extend Iraq oil-for-food program for 180 days in a resolution that paves the way to a reform of sanctions against the country at the end of that period.
"With this resolution, the Security Council makes a binding decision to change the sanctions program for Iraq from June 1, 2002 and to make it more targeted," Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said in a statement. Iraq has been under UN sanctions since its August 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait.
"The German government advocates an international sanctions program that is closely aligned with its political targets and, as far as possible, excludes unintentional hardships for the civilian population," Fischer said. "The success of the sanctions is dependent on this."
Fischer said it was encouraging sign of growing international consensus that the Security Council's decision on the resolution was unanimous. The council on Thursday extended the oil-for-food program from the end of its current phase on Friday until May 30. At the end of that period, the council will adopt a goods review list designed to prevent imports by Iraq of items with a military potential.
A leading council member said that Iraq would be allowed to freely import anything not on the list, a major reform that would in effect abolish the 11-year-old embargo on civilian trade and make oil-for-food redundant. — (AFP, Berlin)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
