Ban dropped on lethal military equipment to Iraq
 http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1591025-6080-0,00.html

The United States dropped its long-standing ban on the export of lethal military equipment to Iraq, on the one-year anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to US forces.
The State Department eliminated the restriction by amending its arms export regulations to allow for such sales to the Iraqi army and police should the president determine them to be "in the national interest of the United States."

"Exports may be authorized of lethal military equipment designated by the secretary of state for use by a reconstituted (or interim) Iraqi military or police force ... if the president determines ... that the export is in the national interest of the United States," it said in a notice published in the Federal Register.

The change also allows the export of small arms to Iraq "for private security purposes," according to the notice, which adds that the president must notify Congress of the sales within five days of the approval.

A ban on the export of non-lethal US military aid to Iraq was dropped last year, but the restriction on lethal assistance had remained in place until Friday.

AFP