U.N. Iraq Embargo About to End

The U.S., UK and Spain are thought to have been successful in convincing the 15 member Security Council to lift the sanctions it imposed shortly after the armies of Saddam Hussein invaded and annexed Kuwait.

With Coalition forces now firmly in control of Iraq and former president Saddam Hussein in hiding, Washington and London believed the premise to maintain sanctions no longer existed.

Under the terms of the new resolution, the U.S. and UK will assume most of the duties of administering Iraq for the foreseeable future. The U.N. will be relegated to a supporting role, mostly in the area of providing humanitarian aid.

Most importantly, revenue from Iraq's oil sales will be controlled by the United States and Britain.

One area left unaddressed is the resumption of Iraqi arms inspections by UNMOVIC and the IAEA.

All the U.S. and UK will say is that issue "needs to be revisited" at some unspecified future date.

The issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq was a major concern for the Bush Administration.

It was repeatedly cited by President George W. Bush as a primary reason for launching Operation Iraqi Freedom.

To date, little evidence relating to WMD has been found by Coalition forces who have been on the ground in Iraq for more than two months.

Specialized groups of U.S.-led inspectors (some of whom worked for the U.N.) fanned out across the country shortly after the US/UK invasion began. To date, nothing of major significance has been found, say U.S. sources.

The same sources confirm that Washington has decided to "suspend" the WMD search, at least temporarily.

Officials close to the UN inspections have labelled the actions by the U.S. teams as "sloppy" and a "disaster."

One incident involved an inspection of an Iraqi nuclear site by U.S. troops in April.

The Tuwaitha nuclear complex was overrun by U.S. troops on their way to Baghdad.

An inspection of the complex revealed several subterranean levels.

On one of those levels, the U.S. troops discovered a storage facility loaded with steel drums that sent radiation detectors ticking.

According to the Pentagon, some of the drums were opened by the U.S. troops to examine their contents.

While the U.S. military thought the find may be related to hidden WMD, it was later reported that the material was no more than nuclear waste.

The waste had been declared by the Iraqi government and subsequently stored and sealed under IAEA supervision.

It was also highly toxic.

U.N. sources believe that U.S. troops who were exposed to the waste material may have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation

The Pentagon has had no comment.

However, recent reports from the area surrounding the nuclear complex speak of local residents becoming sick.

There is a suspicion in U.S. quarters that some of the ailments may be related to the theft of nuclear materials from the research center.

IAEA Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei has requested permission to resume nuclear inspections.

So far, Washington has refused. ElBaradei has responded by threatening to have the IAEA issue a nuclear emergency for Iraq.

On Wednesday, IAEA sources told NewsMax that discussions were underway with Washington that might allow a nuclear team into Iraq to assess the condition of the nuclear facilities in question.

The Pentagon has also signalled a readiness to accept an IAEA team in the country.

The purpose would be to assess the facilities' condition and what if any equipment or nuclear materials may be missing.

It would not mark the resumption of regular arms inspections, which highlights a continuing problem for the Coalition: What to do about U.N. arms inspections?

Moscow and Paris have insisted that the issue of WMD must be addressed before sanctions can be lifted, as required under current Security Council resolutions.

Washington and London have responded that the WMD issue is less important now, since the Coalition has effectively taken over the government.

UNMOVIC sources confide that they do not see the issue of future of Iraqi arms inspections being taken up by the Security Council until after U.N. Chief Inspector Dr. Hans Blix retires in July.

IAEA sources tell NewsMax that IAEA Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei may not seek reelection when his current term ends in 2005.

When asked if his country considered the resumption of U.N. arms inspection a priority, Council president Munir Akram (Pakistan) said:

"For us the priority is the welfare of the Iraqi people and for that purpose it is obvious that the oil sales resume so that resources are generated by which the Iraqi economy can be revived, reconstruction in Iraq can begin and relief can be provided to the Iraqi people. That is our first priority. We believe that the weapons issue will have to be addressed at some point down the line."

All of which has led to uncertainty at UNMOVIC: "I am sending out my resumes," confided one veteran inspector. "Are any television networks looking for additional experts to put on the air?" he asked.