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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: average joe who wrote (18959)	1/22/2003 6:24:03 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

U.S. Promises to Hold Iraqi Oil 'In Trust' Wed January 22, 2003 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell promised that a U.S. military occupation would hold Iraq's oilfields "in trust" for the Iraqi people. In an interview with U.S. newspapers on Tuesday, released by the State Department on Wednesday, Powell said the Bush administration was studying different models for managing the Iraqi oil industry if the United States invades. "If we are the occupying power, it will be held for the benefit of the Iraqi people and it will be operated for the benefit of the Iraqi people," he said. "How will we operate it? How best to do that? We are studying different models. But the one thing I can assure you of is that it will be held in trust for the Iraqi people, to benefit the Iraqi people. That is a legal obligation that the occupying power will have," he added. Powell said the U.S. military would not want to run Iraq for long after a possible invasion but he declined to speculate how long U.S. troops would stay in the country. "There is no desire for the United States armed forces to remain in charge or to run a country for any length of time beyond that which is necessary to make sure that there is an appropriate form of government to take over from the initial military occupation," he said. ((Reporting by Jonathan Wright, editing by Sonya Hepinstall; Reuters Messaging: jonathan.wright.reuters.com@reuters.net; email jonathan.wright@reuters.com; +1 202 898 8393) reuters.com