By sending 1,000 military and civilian weapons inspectors to Iraq, Washington has assumed a role that many countries believe was the domain of the United Nations weapons inspection team led by Hans Blix.

But only the UN Security Council can announce the lifting of the sanctions, imposed on Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, on the basis of reports made by its own inspectors.

"By sending their own people, the Americans have shown that they obviously do not have the intention of seeing Hans Blix's mission resume its work. And that obviously poses a problem for us," said a diplomatic source in Paris.

France and Russia both believe it is essential the inspections are carried out by the United Nations, or the organization risks being relegated to playing only a secondary role in post-war Iraq.

Blix on Thursday called for a resumption of the UN inspections, which he said would give credibility to any discoveries of arms by coalition forces, but Washington said it was too early for such a move.

The diplomatic stalemate on the lifting of sanctions is a blow to the United States after US President George W. Bush on Wednesday called for the embargo to be rapidly lifted following the demise of Saddam's regime.

Washington wants the sanctions to go swiftly so the country's oil exports can resume and help pay for Iraq's post-war reconstruction.

But Paris and Moscow, who both hold veto wielding powers at the UN Security Council, fear that the United Nations will lose all influence over the future of Iraq if sanctions are lifted rapidly.

Diplomatic sources said the two countries, who were vociferous opponents of the war on Saddam Hussein's regime, are concerned that an automatic lifting of the sanctions would legitimize the civil administration that the United States is now attempting to establish in Iraq.

European Union leaders echoed these concerns on Thursday with a statement which called for the UN to play "a central role in the process leading towards self-government for the Iraqi people, utilizing its unique capacity and experience in post-conflict nation building."

France and Russia, who both have considerable oil interests in Iraq, are also determined that Washington does not wrest control of administering the sale of the country's oil away from the United Nations.

Washington wants the UN Security Council to approve the end of Iraq's oil-for-food programme and allow Baghdad to sell its oil freely on the market.

But diplomatic sources in Paris warned that it will be impossible to market Iraq's oil until there is a legitimate administration in Baghdad.

According to the specialist journal Arab Oil and Gas (PGA), over 8 million barrels of Iraqi oil have been sitting in a storage reservoir in the Turkish port of Ceyhan since the start of war, waiting for the end of sanctions.

"But the buyers are not moving due to legal uncertainties which are linked to the absence of Iraqi authorities who can conclude new sale contracts and the current discussions on the future role of the UN," the PGA said.

(China Daily April 22, 2003)