US. Promises to Hold Iraqi Oil 'In Trust' Wed Jan 22,12:34 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell promised that a U.S.
military occupation would hold Iraq's oilfields "in trust" for the Iraqi
people.
In an interview with U.S. newspapers on Tuesday, released by the State
Department on Wednesday, Powell said the Bush administration was studying
different models for managing the Iraqi oil industry if the United States
invades.
"If we are the occupying power, it will be held for the benefit of the
Iraqi people and it will be operated for the benefit of the Iraqi people,"
he said.
"How will we operate it? How best to do that? We are studying different
models. But the one thing I can assure you of is that it will be held in
trust for the Iraqi people, to benefit the Iraqi people. That is a legal
obligation that the occupying power will have," he added.
Powell said the U.S. military would not want to run Iraq for long after a
possible invasion but he declined to speculate how long U.S. troops would
stay in the country.
"There is no desire for the United States armed forces to remain in charge
or to run a country for any length of time beyond that which is necessary
to make sure that there is an appropriate form of government to take over
from the initial military occupation," he said. (Reporting by Jonathan
Wright.)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030122/ts_nm/iraq_oil_powell_dc_3
