-Caveat Lector- http://www.foreignwire.com/ekeus.html WHO'S STILL ARMING SADDAM? By Harvey Morris (April 12 1996) FIVE years after the end of the Gulf War, Western firms are helping Saddam Hussein to rebuild the arsenal of weapons of mass destruction which the United Nations has spent the intervening period painstakingly seeking out and destroying. Few know which companies are involved or of what nationality. Those who do know include, ironically, Rolf Ekeus, head of the U.N.1s weapons monitoring operation in Iraq. And he won1t say. "I had hoped at the end of our work I would be able to reveal some of the companies involved," Dr Ekeus said in London recently. What he found, as a result, was that companies refused to cooperate with him and, in some cases, their governments were obstructive. So Dr Ekeus has been forced to guarantee anonymity to firms prepared to tell him about the kind of lethal exports that are getting into Iraq. "We1ve developed a lot of trust,2 he said. 3In 99 per cent you1re dependent on goodwill." His pragmatic approach has led to some tensions with the U.S. congress which he says is itching to block the sales and punish the perpetrators. He has to persuade congress that monitoring what1s happening may be the best way to keep Saddam in check and thwart his dreams of rebuilding his missile capacity and of developing biological and even nuclear weapons. Dragging the Tigris Ekeus has plenty of evidence that five years of sanctions, with the resulting hardships imposed on the Iraqi people, have failed to deter Saddam from pursuing his policy of military supremacy in the Middle East. The U.N. team spent Christmas dragging the Tigris for a consignment of sophisticated gyroscopes which had been dumped into the river by the Iraqis when they realised the U.N. were on their trail. Iraq is still allowed to produce short-range missiles for its self-defence but the guidance and control components fished from the Tigris were more complex than a short-range programme would have merited. The U.N. team was tipped off by the Jordanians after a Jordanian buyer took delivery of the consignment. In Amman, it was said the components were Russian-made. Ekeus acknowledges, however, that it is not just the former Soviet bloc that is involved in the illicit trade. He said he was concerned about the prospect of Iraq getting its hands on fresh funds to boost its weapons-buying power. Talks at the U.N. in New York on Iraqi resuming limited oil production to finance humanitarian purchases have so far stalled. They are due to go into a third round in April. If the concession is granted, the operation would be controlled by the U.N. and, in theory, Baghdad would not be able to get into hands on the oil revenue. Implementation of U.N. resolution 986 would allow Baghdad $2 billion of oil sales in six months to buy badly needed food and medical supplies. The atmosphere of the last round of talks, in March, was soured by Iraq1s action in blocking access to Ekeus1s team as it sought to gain entry to a number of suspect sites in Baghdad. Money for arms If the next round is successful, the international oil price is likely to drop by a factor of one or two dollars a barrel because more oil will be available on the market. But the Iraq dinar will be stronger, immediately increasing the country1s resources. The dinar soared and stayed relatively high against the dollar when the earlier New York talks looked like succeeding. Ekeus predicts that the U.N.1s weapons monitoring duties in Iraq may have to continue for another 20 years. Tracking down elements of the mass destruction programme that survived the Gulf War has been like putting a jigsaw together, an exercise in detection that is now made frustratingly more difficult by the knowledge that international companies, despite all they know of Saddam Hussein, are prepared to arm him again. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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