Iraq Hails Russia's Stance on US-British "Smart Sanctions"

Iraq on Wednesday hailed Russia's firm stance on the US-British "smart sanctions" regime, and vowed to promote cooperation with it.

In a meeting with his top aides, President Saddam Hussein said that cooperation between Iraq and Russia as well as other friendly countries which took positive stance on Iraq's just cause will be boosted, the official INA news agency reported.

The Iraqi leadership emphasized that Iraq will also further develop ties with its neighbors.

During the meeting, the top officials discussed the latest developments in face of the U.S.-British "smart sanctions" plan and deliberations by the U.N. Security Council on the issue, INA said.

They also spoke highly of positions held by Arab and friendly countries which demanded a lifting of the U.N. embargo imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait.

"The appreciation was not only offered by the Iraqi people, but also by all the Arabs and people of the third world who oppose American hegemony and hope for a balance in the international arena," Saddam said.

On Monday, the U.N. Security Council decided to indefinitely put off a vote on the new sanctions regime, given that Russia threatened to veto the plan, and to extend the U.N. oil-for-food program for 150 days starting from midnight.

Iraq considers the decision "a victory of the will of the Arab people".

The U.N. started the oil-for-food program in 1996, which allows Iraq to sell oil to buy U.N.-monitored food, medicine and other necessities to offset the impact of the decade-old U.N. sanctions.

On June 1, the U.N. Security Council decided to extend the oil- for-food program to July 3. Three days later, Iraq suspended its oil exports in protest of the one-month extension of the program, a move which Iraq claims was designed to pave the way for the adoption of U.S.-British "smart sanctions".

Iraq has strongly opposed the new version of the sanctions on Iraq, which would ease Iraqi import of civilian goods and tighten curbs on military-related materials.






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