SAINT LOUIS (USA), April 16: US President George W. Bush called on Wednesday for the United Nations to lift sanctions on Iraq now that Saddam Hussein regime has “passed into history.”

“Now that Iraq is liberated, the United Nations should lift economic sanctions on that country,” Bush told Boeing defence workers in his first speech to a civilian audience outside of Washington since the war began.

The United States “in the near future” will offer a UN resolution ending the UN-administered “oil-for-food” programme to enable Iraq to sell freely on world markets, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

“Iraq should be able to trade freely, and we need to transition from the oil-for-food programme as soon as possible and help restore a normal trading relationship with the global economy,” he told reporters.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in late March to allow the resumption of humanitarian aid for Iraq through its oil-for-food programme.

An estimated 60 per cent of the Iraqi population of 22 million depends on the programme for daily supplies.—AFP