The United Nations Security Council has voted to lift sanctions against Iraq. The resolution passed by a vote of 14 to 0. In an unusual move, the Syrian ambassador did not attend the vote.
The resolution endorses the U.S. and British occupation of Iraq until the country elects a new government.
Iraq's oil money will go into a coalition-supervised but independently-audited bank account.
Iraq is still banned from possessing weapons of mass destruction, but Britain and the United States, not the United Nations, are in charge of verifying compliance.
The resolution says the council intends to revisit the U.N. weapons inspectors' mandates in the future.
Under the resolution, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to appoint a U.N. special representative to participate in the reconstruction process.
The resolution won final approval after language was added that authorizes the Security Council to review the implementation of the resolution within a year.
