With last week's almost unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution lifting economic sanctions against Iraq, the stage is set for a multilateral drive to rebuild the war-shattered country. The effort will be led by the occupying powers, the United States and Britain, but the international community will play a role as well, not only in humanitarian assistance and economic reconstruction but also in creating a new Iraqi government.

The resolution, sponsored by the U.S., Britain and Spain, was supported by 14 of the 15 council members. Syria, Iraq's neighbor and the only Arab member of the council, absented itself from the session, though it later gave implicit backing to the vote. Now the rebuilding process in post-Hussein Iraq has what the military campaign in Iraq had failed to win: an explicit mandate of the United Nations.

Plainly, the U.S. and British victory in the war has changed the equation. Although the deep differences that had split the council prior to the war remain, there is now a broad willingness to work together in postwar Iraq. While the countries that had opposed the military action — including France, Russia and Germany — have edged closer to the U.S. and Britain, the occupiers themselves have done their part in finding common ground.

The resolution also calls for all U.N. members to cooperate in three areas: reconstruction assistance, internal security and humanitarian aid. Japan, which had openly supported the war, is in a position to take an active part. Already the government is reportedly considering legal steps in this direction, including nonmilitary cooperation by the Self-Defense Forces.

The lifting of economic sanctions, imposed shortly after then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's troops invaded Kuwait in August 1990, is an essential condition for reconstruction in Iraq. The resolution opens the way for increased oil production in a country that is said to have the world's second largest reserves after Saudi Arabia. With more wells operating with greater efficiency, Iraq will be able to export more oil and earn more hard currency.

The oil money will be used, as it should be, in ways that bring benefits to the Iraqi people, not their rulers. The Hussein regime exploited the oil riches to serve its own interests. The new Iraq now in the making, of course, must be a democracy so that the world can rest assured that Baghdad will never again invade its neighbors and will never again develop weapons of mass destruction or support terrorist organizations.

It remains to be seen, however, how the new resolution will play out in achieving that goal. First, the resolution gives the U.S. and Britain extraordinary "authority" to lead reconstruction efforts. The occupying powers will also take charge of the new Development Fund for Iraq, thus holding effective control over the oil revenues.

It is welcome that the U.N. will actively engage in the rebuilding process, particularly in humanitarian relief and reconstruction assistance. U.N. activities will be coordinated through a special representative appointed by the secretary general, but the envoy's role will be subordinate to the U.S. and British authorities.

Indeed, U.S. and British leadership in Iraqi reconstruction is a fait accompli. That is not lost on France, which had been the most vocal critic of the war. France no longer insists on a "central role" for the U.N. With the G8 summit opening there in early June, Paris would have opened new cracks in its relations with Washington and London, had it stuck to its guns.

Given their recognized predominance in Iraq, the Americans and British have the greatest responsibility for the country's reconstruction and democratization. At the moment, though, in striking contrast to the quick military victory, the occupation authorities are fighting an uphill battle to build the peace.

Efforts to restore basic services like water and electricity have been delayed. Looting and thievery continue. Worse, people who stole equipment from an abandoned nuclear facility south of Baghdad have been contaminated with radioactivity. Security remains a serious problem, though U.S. forces in the capital have been reinforced by 16,000 troops.

Strife continues among ethnic and religious groups that had opposed the Hussein regime. The Shiite faction, which makes up more than 60 percent of the population, is divided. A new U.S. civil administrator, Mr. Paul Bremer, is now in charge of running the country, but a national congress to set up an interim Iraqi government is not likely to open until mid-July. More than six weeks after Hussein's fall, Iraq still has a long way to go before it begins to function. The new Security Council resolution should provide the catalyst for recovery and reconstruction.