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 Secretary General
and the United Nations 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 the 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 U.S.
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 U.S. 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.
Issued 20
May 2003
