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ACNS3445 United Nations must assume full authority in


From "Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>
Date Thu, 22 May 2003 00:12:11 +0100

ACNS 3445	     |		 ACO	     |		 21 MAY 2003	

United Nations must assume full authority in rebuilding Iraq

The Anglican Consultative Council, representative of a worldwide Anglican
Communion of 70 million people in 164 countries, reaffirms its full
confidence in the authority of the United Nations and the Secretary General
to rebuild Iraq in the interests of the Iraqi people and in accordance with
international law. It believes that Peace with Justice in Iraq can only be
achieved through multilateral cooperation under the sole authority of the
United Nations as the truly impartial and representative body of all member
states. It therefore calls on all governments to cooperate fully in making
sure that the United Nations is given full authority to administer and
monitor the rebuilding of Iraq in a way that will maximise benefits to the
Iraqi people. 

The Anglican Consultative Council also recommends to the United Nations that
all sanctions previously imposed by member state governments be lifted
immediately in order to remove the hardships experienced by the Iraqi people,
who have been further traumatized by the recent war. We see God's tears in
the suffering of the population who should be helped immediately to alleviate
their situation by being given the ability to determine their own future.
They will be helped towards a speedy recovery by being allowed the use of
their oil revenues, with the guidance of the United Nations. 

The Anglican Consultative Council supports the establishment of a zone of
peace throughout the Middle East, especially given the religious importance
of the region to all people of faith throughout the world. Hence we call on
the members of the Security Council not to vote for the current draft
resolution presented by the US government which would give Washington and
London broad powers to run Iraq and to use the revenue from oil sales to
restore the damage caused by the war in Iraq. It will be incumbent on the US
and UK governments to assist the UN to restore peace in Iraq by converting
their troops on the ground into UN peace keepers supported by them (US and
UK) financially, and by paying for the rebuilding of Iraqi infrastructure. 

We believe that the present draft resolution should not be adopted by the
Security Council. The right way to proceed in our view would be for the
General Assembly to meet immediately under emergency procedures. This would
allow all members of the United Nations to have a voice in adopting a
resolution that would not only lift sanctions but would also give full
authority to the United Nations for the reconstruction of Iraq.

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