Saudi's Ain't too happy, UN Sanctions Must Stay Till Iraq Has Own Govt, Saudi Says.
RIYADH (Reuters) - The U.S.-led forces that invaded Iraq (news - web sites) had no right to exploit its oil and U.N. sanctions on Iraq should end only when it has a legitimate government, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Saturday.
Faisal, speaking after a meeting of eight regional states on post-Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) Iraq, said the invading forces must reestablish security and withdraw as soon as possible, allowing Iraqis to form their own government.
"Now Iraq is under an occupying power and any request for lifting sanctions must come when there is a legitimate government which represents the people... and which can comply with its duties toward lifting sanctions," Faisal told reporters after the meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
The United States wants a quick end to the 12-year-old sanctions, which would allow Iraq to sell oil to help pay for postwar reconstruction following Saddam's overthrow.
The first postwar regional forum also rejected U.S. accusations that Syria was sheltering aides of the former Saudi president and developing chemical weapons. Syria denies both charges.
Faisal said the U.N. embargo on Iraq should end only when a representative government took control.
"(The ministers) affirmed that the Iraqi people should administer and govern their country by themselves, and any exploitation of their natural resources should be in conformity with the will of the legitimate Iraqi government and its people," he said, reading from a joint statement.
CENTRAL U.N. ROLE
The meeting in the Saudi capital was attended by foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors Turkey, Iran, Syria, Kuwait and Jordan as well as Egypt and Bahrain, and was intended to discuss the implications for the region of the crushing U.S. victory.
Asked if those countries planned to play a role in shaping a new Iraq, Faisal said: "We will not permit ourselves to interfere in its (Iraq's) internal affairs."
The statement called for a central U.N. role in dealing with postwar Iraq. The United States is reluctant to give the United States and the global community a say in Iraq's political future.
The U.N. sanctions were imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of oil-rich neighbor Kuwait. They allow limited oil sales under U.N. supervision to buy food, medicines and other vital civilian goods. They ban other Iraqi exports and rigidly control imports.
President Bush (news - web sites) urged the United Nations (news - web sites) on Wednesday to lift the sanctions, but the European Union (news - web sites), split over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, fears any rapid moves to end the embargo could further undermine the already strained authority of the United Nations.
The sanctions are the main political leverage U.N. Security Council members, including anti-war states France, Germany and Russia, have to persuade the United States to give the United Nations a role in the reconstruction of Iraq.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said U.S.-led forces should leave Iraq and let the United Nations help the people there run their own affairs.
Barring Syria and Iran, all participants at the meeting are key U.S. allies that offered some form of support for the invasion. But they all fear the United States will install a puppet government regime in Iraq that would ally itself with Israel.
"(The ministers) underlined the obligations of the occupying powers under the fourth Geneva convention to maintain security and stability... and underlined their obligation to withdraw from Iraq and allow Iraqis to exercise their right to self-determination," the joint statement said.
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