The United States circulated the new draft at a closed-door council meeting late Monday, which was called at the request of the US mission.

Under the new draft, the oil-for-food program, a life line for Iraq's population of 27 million, would be phased out within six months, instead of four months as stipulated in an earlier draft.

The new version took out the provision which would legitimize the US-British occupation of Iraq by endorsing their exercise of responsibilities as occupying powers for at least one year.

A diplomat said the omission was a very significant change since the provision had been one of major sticking points during previous consultations.

He said many council members had raised questions on the provision under which the United States and Britain could automatically extend their stay in Iraq.

Unlike the old ones, the new draft touches the disarmament of Iraq and envisions a series of steps for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to terminate the oil-for-food program.

The draft reaffirms that Iraq must meet its disarmament obligations and asks Britain and the United States to keep the Security Council informed of their inspection activities.

It also says the council would "revisit" the mandate of the UN Monitoring and Verification Commission, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, two institutions in charge of UN arms inspections in Iraq.

The old drafts did not contain any provisions on future arms inspections, which is closely linked with the lifting of sanctions against Iraq. Relevant UN resolutions provides that only after inspectors' verification of the removal of Iraq's banned arms can the Security Council adopt a resolution to lift the sanctions.

As to Iraq's oil revenues, the new draft makes it clear that the oil income should be immune from any claims till Dec. 31, 2007.Such a period, during which Iraq's creditor or any private firms could seek claims against Iraq's oil income, could extend automatically unless the council decides otherwise.

But the new draft still fails to give the United Nations a "central" role or any substantive role as called for by other council members.

US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte told reporters that the United States has gone as far as it can to meet the concerns expressed by other council members.

He said that the draft would soon be printed in blue and the United States is expected to put the resolution to a vote some time later this week.

Under the council rules, a draft in blue could be put to a voteat any time at the request of its sponsors.

Council President Munir Akram of Pakistan said the council is due to meet again Tuesday afternoon on the draft.

The United States has been keen to see the passage of the resolution before June 3, when the current phase of the oil-for-food program expires.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2003)