IRAQ: The US administrator in Iraq acted swiftly on America's overwhelming victory at the United Nations over its plans to rebuild the country, dissolving several key Baathist ministries and bodies yesterday.
Only hours after the Security Council voted to end crippling 13-year-old sanctions, Mr Paul Bremer sacked hundreds of thousands of public employees and soldiers by abolishing the defence and information ministries, as well as military and security courts.
There was no confirmation, meanwhile, that Uday Hussein, the feared elder son of Saddam Hussein, was considering surrendering to US forces but was hesitating because of the way US officials were allegedly handling negotiations.
According to the suggestion, made by the Wall Street Journal citing a "third party" familiar with the talks, Uday was hiding out in a suburb of Baghdad and, before turning himself in, wanted to know the specific accusations he faced, as well as the conditions under which he would be held and interrogated.
Negotiations were being conducted through intermediaries, according to the Journal. The US authorities do not appear particularly eager to strike a deal, because they believe Uday will be captured sooner or later, the source told the Journal.
The source added that a relative of Saddam's told him that the former Iraqi leader was also in Baghdad's suburbs but was in "questionable mental health".
Uday is said to fear that Iraqis will kill him if they find him. Under his father's regime, Uday, who stands accused of several murders and numerous instances of brutish behaviour, including rape and torture, held the title of head of the country's Olympic committee. A December 1996 assassination attempt left him partially paralyzed and curtailed his playboy lifestyle.
The UN's decision to lift the sanctions was mostly greeted with indifference yesterday in Baghdad, where many Iraqis said the absence of law and order and poor infrastructure meant there was still no end in sight to their hardship.
"I did not feel happy. Nothing will make me happy now but a normal life with electricity, water supply and security on the streets," said Ahmed Hassan, a street vendor.
"In fact, the sanctions were lifted when America invaded Iraq. The embargo had become no more than ink on paper," he said.
"People will feel happy when they feel safe and secure."
Last-minute concessions by Washington opened the door to an independent, albeit limited, UN role and the possibility of UN weapons inspectors returning to postwar Iraq.
Without UN action to lift the sanctions, the US would have been in a legal no man's land, with many firms unwilling to trade with Iraq, which has the world's second largest oil reserves.
Fadhel Othman, number two on the US-appointed advisory panel helping run Iraq's oil industry, said Iraq now wanted to resume oil exports as soon as possible.
Traders expect tankers to start exporting oil from storage tanks on the Turkish Mediterranean coast within weeks.
Oil prices slipped after the UN vote as the market factored in the huge quantity of stored Iraqi oil which can now be exported. It rose again yesterday, recovering lost ground.
Mr Bremer's decision to disband the armed forces and security bodies that had formed the backbone of Saddam Hussein's iron rule affect more than 400,000 soldiers and public employees.
"These actions are part of a robust campaign to show the Iraqi people that the Saddam regime is gone, and will never return," the US-led administration said in a statement.
The order disbands the elite Republican Guards and the regular army, suspends conscription, turns property of the dissolved entities over to the US-led administration and dismisses all employees of the dissolved entities.
The Iraqi army has in practice already been disbanded by the US-led war that toppled Saddam last month.
The US administration has also banned the ruling Baath Party and vowed to prevent the party's top officials from holding public office.
The administration said it planned to build a new Iraqi army from scratch.