Russia to present UN with proposal on Iraq sanctions

Russia will present a proposal to the United Nations Security Council on July 3 for a new system of sanctions on Iraq - including a clear timetable for ending them, foreign minister Igor Ivanov said today.

Russia, which has long urged a lifting of the sanctions, called for an open Security Council meeting next week on the issue. Moscow has criticized a US-backed British proposal, submitted last month, that would lift most restrictions on civilian goods entering Iraq while tightening the arms embargo.