Saudi Arabia calls for UN sanctions on Iraq to remain

11.00pm

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia said today that UN sanctions imposed on Iraq should end only when it has a legitimate government.

"Now Iraq is under an occupying power and any request for lifting sanctions must come when there is a legitimate government which represents the people," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters after a meeting on Iraq by eight Middle East nations, including Iraq's six neighbours.

The United States wants a quick end to the UN sanctions, imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, to allow oil sales to help fund reconstruction. Iraq has the world's second largest proven oil reserves.

A joint statement after the Riyadh meeting said US-led forces in Iraq had no right to exploit its oil and that the US had to reestablish security and withdraw as soon as possible, allowing Iraqis to form their own government.

"If what they (the occupying forces) intend is the exploitation of Iraqi oil, it will not have any legitimate basis," Faisal said after the talks ended.

"(The ministers) affirmed that the Iraqi people should administer and govern their country by themselves, and any exploitation of their natural resources should be in conformity with the will of the legitimate Iraqi government and its people," Faisal said, reading from the joint statement.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are concerned that their revenues might be hit if Iraqi oil is once again sold on the open market.

Foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbours Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria as well as Egypt and Bahrain were meeting in the Saudi capital to discuss regional implications of America's crushing military victory.

The statement called for a central UN role in dealing with postwar Iraq, but Washington is reluctant to give the United Nations and the global community a say in Iraq's political future.

Asked if the eight countries planned to play a role in shaping a new Iraq, Faisal said: "We will not permit ourselves to interfere in its (Iraq's) internal affairs."

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said US-led forces should leave Iraq and let the United Nations help Iraqis run their own affairs.

But Faisal added that US-led forces must first reestablish order in the war-torn country.

"Going out in the streets is dangerous and houses are being looted. These things must stop so that the Iraqis can work together to set up systems and administrations that express their will and needs throughout Iraq."

Barring Syria and Iran, all participants at the meeting are US allies that offered some form of support for the invasion. But they all fear Washington will install a puppet government regime in Iraq that would ally itself with Israel.

The joint statement said: "(The ministers) underlined the obligations of the occupying powers under the fourth Geneva convention to maintain security and stability...and underlined their obligation to withdraw from Iraq and allow Iraqis to exercise their right to self-determination."

Middle Eastern nations are determined to avoid a break-up of Iraq along potentially destabilising ethnic and sectarian lines.

Asked about investing in Iraq, Faisal said: "Until there is an Iraqi government, I don't think anyone will think about investing there."

The regional forum, the first since the war ended, also rejected US charges that Syria was sheltering some of Saddam Hussein's aides and developing chemical weapons. Syria denies both charges.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war