Chances are slim the UN Security Council will lift sanctions against Iraq in June despite President George W. Bush's call to get the United Nations out of the multibillion dollar Iraq oil-for food plan, diplomats said today.
Instead envoys say a suspension or phase-out of the sanctions is more likely when the current tranche of the oil-for-food program, the heart of the embargoes, expires on June 3rd.
That program, which began in 1996, puts Iraq's oil revenues into a UN-administered fund out of which suppliers of food, medicine and other goods Iraq orders are paid.
Before the war some 60 per cent of the population was totally dependent on the program, designed to ease the impact of sanctions imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
The United States is not expected to produce a draft resolution for a week or so, with administration officials saying differences still persist between the US military, which wants one "omnibus" resolution, and the State Department, which advocates step-by-step measures.
In addition, staunch ally Britain, which is expected to co-sponsor or at minimum lobby council members for the resolution, has substantial reservations about the US proposals, especially the Bush administration's disregard for a political role for the United Nations or UN arms inspectors.