President Bush Lifts U.S. Sanctions Against Iraq

The White House press services announced that President Bush lifted the sanctions against Iraq introduced by the U.S. government in 1990.

According to disseminated information, Mr. Bush removed the trade restrictions imposed earlier by the U.S. government on Iraq as the country supporting terrorism.

Prior to the announcement, during a press conference in Washington held together with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Asnar, the U.S. President stated that the lifting of sanctions against Iraq means the removal of restrictions on procurement of "certain types of equipment necessary for post-war rebuilding of Iraq." At the same time, Mr. Bush announced that the United States, Great Britain and Spain will "soon" introduce a "new resolution on lifting the UN sanctions against Iraq" in the UN Security Council.

On Thursday, the "Washington Post" newspaper, citing some high-ranking officials from the Bush administration, mentioned that the draft of the new resolution is expected to be introduced in the UN Security Council as early as May 9.

Representatives from the Bush administration also explained that the international sanctions against Iraq, imposed earlier by the UN, including the ban on procurement of weapons, remain in force, and that the decision announced by President Bush refers only to sanctions introduced by the U.S. government.