Determining the sign of the b→sγ amplitude -: art. no. 061803

The latest Belle and BABAR measurements of the inclusive (B) over bar --> X(s)l(+)l(-) branching ratio have smaller errors and lower central values than the previous ones. We point out that these results indicate that the sign of the b --> sgamma amplitude is the same as in the standard model. This underscores the importance of (B) over bar --> X(s)l(+)l(-) in searches for new physics, and may be relevant for neutralino-dark matter analyses within the minimal supersymmetric standard model.