U.N. to delay reform on Iraq sanctions

Saddam: Rejects the new sanctions plan

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. and its allies have said a U.N. decision on whether to reform sanctions against Iraq will be postponed to give Russia more time to study proposed changes.

U.S. officials said they are hopeful Moscow's review can be completed in one month.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said members of the U.N. Security Council were in "general agreement" that Iraqi sanctions "have lost some of their effectiveness."

Powell expressed optimism that agreement on a new sanctions package could soon be reached.

The sanctions, he added, were originally intended as "an arms control program," not an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

While in Budapest for a NATO meeting, Powell conferred separately with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Russia. With the United States, these nations represent four of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

China, the fifth member, was not directly involved in the talks. Each of the five permanent members has veto power.

The current humanitarian oil-for-food program is due to expire on June 3.

That program will be temporarily extended under the informal agreement nailed down by Powell, primarily to give Russia a chance to scrutinize a proposed new list of banned items, a senior administration official told the Associated Press.

The extension, to be put in the form of a U.N. resolution over the weekend, will be for six months.

The agreement to "roll over" the current program was an attempt to overcome a serious impasse on the Security Council, with the June 3 deadline fast approaching.

The United States and Britain want to restructure the sanctions to allow free trade on most civilian goods while tightening them on military imports.

Although France and China have urged for the U.N. not to act too swiftly, Russia has been the main obstacle to putting such a plan in place.

Final details of the proposed agreement came together during a Wednesday meeting between Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

Under the current deadline, the Security Council must extend -- or revamp -- the program that allows Iraq to sell unlimited quantities of oil to pay for the needs of its civilian population.

Iraq remains under sanctions imposed after it invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The U.S.-British plan would remove most restrictions on trade in consumer goods but would retain control of Iraqi oil profits through U.N.-administered escrow accounts.

The United States wants to see controls tightened on items that could be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.

The proposal would keep in place the U.N. resolution that states sanctions cannot be removed until Iraq allows arms inspectors to return.