----- Original Message ----- From: David Muller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2000 2:23 AM Subject: [iac-disc.] France disputes US Iraqi Air Embargo --------------------------------------------------------------------<e|- Make new friends, find the old at Classmates.com: http://click.egroups.com/1/8011/6/_/790251/_/965439616/ --------------------------------------------------------------------|e>- ------------------------------------------------- *** Iraq Action Coalition Discussion Forum *** http://iraqaction.org/discussion.html ------------------------------------ *To Post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *To Subscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * To see the List Guidelines, go to: http://iraqaction.org/discussion.html *Any questions, contact the List Moderator at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday August 4 6:06 PM ET U.S. Disputes French View of Iraqi Air Embargo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday it disagreed with a French interpretation of restrictions on flights to and from Iraq. France said on Friday a proposed French charter flight to Iraq would not necessarily violate international sanctions because the U.N. Security Council never adopted a specific text banning all flights. ``We disagree with the French on this, and we have done for some time,'' a State Department official retorted. The dispute centers on how to interpret U.N. Security Council resolutions 661 and 670, passed in 1990 after Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait. Resolution 670, which goes into detail on the restrictions, refers only to aircraft carrying cargo to and from Iraq, allowing an interpretation that passenger flights are allowed. Resolution 661 bans commercial dealings with Iraq. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said: ``The refusal by some members of the Sanctions Committee to allow flights to and from Iraq may have led to believe that there is an air embargo. There is no such thing.'' The State Department official, who asked not to be named, replied: ``Our position is that if there's a flight going in you have to put it through the Sanctions Committee to show that there is no cargo.'' ``There also has to be a determination of whether there's a commercial benefit (to Iraq). The only way to evaluate that is to put it through the Sanctions Committee,'' he added. The group on the French flight, including several parliamentarians, want to go to Baghdad on September 29 to push for an end to U.N. sanctions. They have yet to find a plane. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said this week sanctions on Iraq were ``cruel, ineffective and dangerous''. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday August 4 6:06 PM ET U.S. Disputes French View of Iraqi Air Embargo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday it disagreed with a French interpretation of restrictions on flights to and from Iraq. France said on Friday a proposed French charter flight to Iraq would not necessarily violate international sanctions because the U.N. Security Council never adopted a specific text banning all flights. ``We disagree with the French on this, and we have done for some time,'' a State Department official retorted. The dispute centers on how to interpret U.N. Security Council resolutions 661 and 670, passed in 1990 after Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait. Resolution 670, which goes into detail on the restrictions, refers only to aircraft carrying cargo to and from Iraq, allowing an interpretation that passenger flights are allowed. Resolution 661 bans commercial dealings with Iraq. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said: ``The refusal by some members of the Sanctions Committee to allow flights to and from Iraq may have led to believe that there is an air embargo. There is no such thing.'' The State Department official, who asked not to be named, replied: ``Our position is that if there's a flight going in you have to put it through the Sanctions Committee to show that there is no cargo.'' ``There also has to be a determination of whether there's a commercial benefit (to Iraq). The only way to evaluate that is to put it through the Sanctions Committee,'' he added. The group on the French flight, including several parliamentarians, want to go to Baghdad on September 29 to push for an end to U.N. sanctions. They have yet to find a plane. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said this week sanctions on Iraq were ``cruel, ineffective and dangerous''. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
