May 10, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1424

COPENHAGEN, May 9: A top European Union official derided on Friday pledges by the United States to manage Iraqi oil revenues transparently, saying it was out to seize the country’s oil resources. He quipped Washington was on its way to becoming a member of OPEC as it prepared to introduce a UN resolution on lifting sanctions on Iraqi oil exports.

“I think that the United States is in the process of becoming a member of OPEC (Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries),” the European Union’s top humanitarian official, Poul Nielson, said on a Danish television network.

“They have their hands on Iraq’s oil, it’s hard to come to any other coherent conclusion,” said the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid.

On Tuesday while in Baghdad, Mr Nielson had called for the United Nations to play a central role in coordinating relief efforts for Iraq.

But after meeting the US civil administrator for Iraq and representatives of humanitarian aid groups working in Iraq, he was sceptical of US motives.

“The lack of willingness to give the United Nations a real, vital and legally-established role speaks for itself,” said Mr Nielson. The EU called last month for the UN to play a “central role” in rebuilding the country.—AFP