The US will consider accepting a mere suspension of UN sanctions against Iraq although it still wants them lifted altogether, the US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell said today.
During a visit to Bulgaria, Mr Powell told a press conference in Sofia that he and Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg had discussed a draft resolution on lifting sanctions on oil-rich Iraq that the United States has submitted to the UN Security Council.
"The idea of suspending rather than lifting sanctions has been raised by a number of the Security Council members," Mr Powell said.
But he said it was important to move quickly "to be able to begin moving oil out of Iraq in order to generate revenue for the Iraqi people and also to make sure the refineries keep running so that gasoline and other oil products needed by the people can be producted by the refineries".
However, Washington's preference was still for a total lifting of sanctions, Mr Powell stressed.
AFP