YORK MP Hugh Bayley wants a guarantee that money for the reconstruction of Iraq will not be redirected to paying Saddam Hussein's bills for weapons.

The Labour MP spoke out in a House of Commons debate on the post-war reconstruction of Iraq.

Mr Bayley, a member of the Commons international development select committee, said the new Iraqi regime must not be burdened by Saddam's "odious debts".

He is concerned that cash raised from the sale of Iraqi oil will be claimed by countries who sold arms to the dictator's former regime.

Mr Bayley urged Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to "resist pressure" from countries who are owed large sums of cash, as well as any United Nations resolution they should be repaid.

"We must consider the needs of the Iraqi people first, and I hope that that is what the Government will take to the Security Council," he added.

Mr Straw said legal safeguards were in place to stop oil revenues being seized by another country for unpaid debts.

But he stressed compensation claims owed to Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion in 1991 would be paid over time.

Mr Straw welcomed the decision to appoint US ambassador Paul Bremer to restore civil administration to Iraq.

The move comes shortly after it emerged that the first person in charge, Jay Garner, was being removed from his post.

Updated: 08:57 Wednesday, May 14, 2003