(Action will spur rebuilding and humanitarian relief, Snow says) (370) Washington -- President Bush announced May 7 that he has suspended economic sanctions imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990, and has directed Treasury Secretary John Snow to relax administrative sanctions on American companies and citizens conducting business with Iraq that contributes to humanitarian relief and reconstruction. Now that the Saddam Hussein regime has been removed in Iraq, "no country in good conscience should support using sanctions to hold back the hopes of the Iraqi people," Bush said at the White House. Snow, speaking to reporters at the Treasury Department, said that Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will issue four new general licenses "permitting many transactions that were previously prohibited." Treasury's action will allow U.S.-funded humanitarian aid to flow to Iraq, and will also permit privately funded humanitarian activities in that country, even if the activities are "not specifically in support of U.S. government objectives." Personal remittances will also be allowed, under which people in the United States may send up to $500 a month in cash to any person in Iraq. Snow noted that an estimated 143,000 Iraqis live in the United States and said that if half of that population sent the maximum amount to Iraq, an additional $30 million would flow into the Iraqi economy each month. "The potential benefit to the Iraqi people is immense," he said. The export of certain goods controlled for national security reasons will also be allowed, but will require a special government license, Snow said. "Lifting the sanctions is an essential step in providing for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people and for commencing the reconstruction process," Snow said. "The regime that was once the target of our economic sanctions has been extinguished. Our mission now is to rebuild Iraq and provide much-needed humanitarian aid." The U.N. Security Council also imposed sanctions against Iraq in 1990, but modified them in 1996 to create the "oil-for-food" program allowing Iraq to sell approved amounts of oil to pay for humanitarian goods. That program expires June 3.