The United States wants a quick end to the sanctions to allow oil sales to help fund reconstruction.

“Iraq is now under an occupying power and any request for lifting sanctions must come when there is a legitimate government which represents the people,” Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told reporters after a meeting on Iraq by eight Middle East nations, including Iraq’s six neighbors.

A joint statement after the Riyadh meeting said US-led forces in Iraq had no right to exploit its oil and that the US had to reestablish security and withdraw as soon as possible, allowing Iraqis to form their own government.

“If what the occupying forces intend is the exploitation of Iraqi oil, it will not have any legitimate basis,” Prince Saud said at the end of the meeting.

“The ministers affirmed that the Iraqi people should administer and govern their country by themselves, and any exploitation of their natural resources should be in conformity with the will of the legitimate Iraqi government and its people,” he said, reading from the joint statement.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are concerned that their revenues might be hit if Iraqi oil is once again sold on the open market. Iraq has the world’s second largest proven oil reserves.

Foreign ministers of Iraq’s neighbors — Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan and Syria — as well as Egypt and Bahrain met here at the behest of the Kingdom to discuss regional implications of America’s military victory in Iraq.

The statement called for a central UN role in dealing with post-war Iraq, but Washington is reluctant to give the United Nations and the global community a say in Iraq’s political future.

Asked if the eight countries planned to play a role in shaping a new Iraq, Prince Saud said: “We will not permit ourselves to interfere in its (Iraq’s) internal affairs.”

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said US-led forces should leave Iraq and let the United Nations help Iraqis run their own affairs. But Prince Saud added that US-led forces must first re-establish order in the war-torn country.

“Going out in the streets is dangerous and houses are being looted. These things must stop so that the Iraqis can work together to set up systems and administrations that express their will and needs throughout Iraq,” he said.

All participants at the meeting fear Washington will install a puppet government regime in Iraq that would ally itself with Israel.

The joint statement said: “(The ministers) underlined the obligations of the occupying powers under the fourth Geneva Convention to maintain security and stability ... and stressed their obligation to withdraw from Iraq and allow Iraqis to exercise their right to self-determination.”

Asked about investing in Iraq, Prince Saud said: “Until there is an Iraqi government, I don’t think anyone will think about investing there.”

Middle Eastern nations are determined to avoid a break-up of Iraq along potentially destabilizing ethnic and sectarian lines.

The regional forum, the first since the war ended, also rejected the US threat against Syria and rebutted charges that Syria was sheltering some of Saddam Hussein’s aides and developing chemical weapons. Syria has denied both charges.

“We completely reject the recent threat against Syria, which can only increase the likelihood of a new cycle of war and hatred,” Prince Saud on Friday in his opening address to the forum.