By Evelyn Leopold
The panel said Iraq should be allowed to export as much oil as it can to finance needed goods under the U.N. "oil-for-food" program but it did not directly call for lifting stringent U.N. sanctions, imposed after Baghdad invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Nevertheless, its proposals included an easing of some sanctions, such as allowing foreign oil companies and others to invest in such Iraqi experts as fertilizer, sulphur, urea, dates, nuts and agriculture in general. The report also said the oil firms could share with Iraq spare parts it needs to upgrade its dilapidated oil equipment.
The United States and others have proposed lifting the ceiling on oil sales, now at $5.2 billion every six months to finance humanitarian supplies under the oil-for-food program. But low oil prices have prevented Iraq from even reaching the current ceiling. Diplomats said the United States and Britain would probably object to investments from oil companies and other industries into Iraq's domestic economy, even if such ventures were supervised by the United Nations.
While the panel said Iraq was responsible for some of the problems in distributing supplies, particularly medicine, it made clear that the U.N. oil-for-food program was inadequate, particularly during periods of falling oil prices. "The humanitarian situation in Iraq will continue to be a dire one in the absence of a sustained revival of the Iraqi economy, which in turn cannot be achieved through remedial humanitarian efforts," the report said.
The panel was one of three set up by the council, all headed by Celso Amorim, Brazil's U.N. ambassador, in an effort to find a basis for its policies on Iraq, stymied since mid-December bombing raids by the United States and Britain.
One panel looked into the fate of 605 Kuwaiti and other prisoners during Iraq's occupation of Kuwait after it invaded the emirate in August 1990. It concluded Iraq had not given adequate explanations about prisoners or property it looted. The most controversial was an arms panel that reported in vague language Monday and said intrusive inspections under a monitoring program needed to resume in Iraq. It also called for a "renovated" or restructured U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM), now responsible for Iraq's weapons of destruction. The humanitarian panel concluded that Iraq since 1990 has "experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty." Infant mortality is the highest in the world, and chronic malnutrition affects every fourth child under the age of 5.
Only 41 percent of the population has regular access to clean water and 83 percent of all schools need substantial repairs. The U.N. Development Program calculates it would take $7 billion to rehabilitate the power sector to its 1990 capacity, the report said.
Other recommendations included:
-- Temporarily reducing the 30 percent Iraq has to pay from its oil revenues into a fund for Kuwaiti Gulf War victims, by asking governments and institutions to delay their claims.
-- A release of some of Iraq's frozen assets into a U.N. escrow account for the purchase of urgently needed goods.
-- The Security Council's sanctions committee should allow food and medical supplies, agricultural equipment and basic educational items to be imported by Iraq without notification. Other items should be approved within two business days.
