Russian rejects British - US sanctions overhaul for Iraq

Russia today rejected a British plan to overhaul sanctions on Iraq and proposed its own resolution at the United Nations in New York, claiming it would speed up an end to sanctions.

Britain and the United States dismissed the Russian initiative as unacceptable.

The rival drafts left the 15-member Security Council bitterly divided on how to break a two-and-a-half year stalemate on the future of sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

It also highlighted the vastly differing approaches the major powers are taking on Iraq 11 years after the Gulf War.

Britain said it wants to continue negotiations on its draft and hopes the council will reach agreement by a July 3 deadline.

Russia’s outright rejection indicating it would exercise its veto power if necessary cast serious doubt on the possibility that the US-British draft could be adopted in just a week.

In Iraq, deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz said today that Iraq will present its own rejection of the British proposal in a letter to the Security Council next week.

‘‘We will affirm our stand in rejecting the proposal, whose chances of passing are getting weaker, if they have not already reached a dead end’’ because of the Russian stance, Aziz said in Baghdad.

The British proposal was introduced May 22 in a resolution to extend the UN oil-for-food programme that allows Iraq to sell unlimited quantities of oil provided the money mainly goes to the purchase of food and humanitarian supplies.

When the council failed to agree on a sanctions overhaul by early June, members extended the oil-for-food programme for 30 days, instead of the usual six months, to give negotiators extra time to reach agreement.

Iraq, in protest, stopped UN-monitored oil exports to all but its neighbours.

Diplomats said there will be a vote by July 3 at a minimum to extend the oil-for-food programme.

Russia, Iraq’s closest ally on the council, demanded that the council considered the humanitarian impact of sanctions, then used the session immediately to denounce the British proposal.

London and Washington say their plan would lift most restrictions on civilian goods entering Iraq while tightening enforcement of the 1990 arms embargo and plugging up lucrative Iraqi smuggling routes.

Britain’s UN Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock called the Russian draft ‘‘ disturbing text’’ that apparently seeks to rewrite conditions for the lifting of sanctions against Iraq.

‘’If that is the case ... then that is just not a credible approach for the council,’’ he said.

Under Security Council resolutions, sanctions cannot be lifted until UN inspectors certify that Iraq’s chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes have been dismantled.