>Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >IRAQ| SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 106 >Tuesday, August 15, 2000 > >LATEST+++++++ > >Western planes bomb northern Iraq. >BAGHDAD, Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. and British planes bombed targets in >northern Iraq on Tuesday, their third raid in five days, an Iraqi military >spokesman said. >In Germany, the U.S. military's European Central Command (EUCOM) said its >planes, which were patrolling a no-fly zone, bombed Iraqi anti-aircraft >positions after coming under fire from a site north-east of Mosul. >The Iraqi military spokesman, quoted by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), said >seven "enemy formations" flew over the provinces of Duhouk, Arbil and Ninveh >at 11:20 a.m. (0720 GMT), attacking civilian and service installations. >EUCOM said its planes departed the area safely and neither side mentioned >any casualties. The Iraqi spokesman said air defence units fired on the jets >and forced them to return to their bases. >Last Saturday, U.S. and British planes began two nights of raids on the >southern town of Samawa, 270 km (168 miles) south of Baghdad, hitting >government warehouses and a rail station. >Iraq said two civilians were killed and 22 wounded in the raids, the first >into Iraq in six weeks. >U.S. and British planes patrol no-fly zones over southern and northern Iraq >set up after the 1991 Gulf War. The zones, which Baghdad does not recognise, >were imposed to protect a Kurdish enclave in the north and Shi'ite Moslems >in the south from possible attacks by Iraqi government forces. >The planes have been bombing targets in the no-fly zones frequently since >Baghdad stepped up its defiance of the Western-imposed restrictions in >December 1998. Iraq says 300 civilians have been killed and 900 wounded in >these attacks. >Russia sharply criticised the United States and Britain on Tuesday for last >week's air strikes, saying the attacks would only increase tensions in the >region. > > >Moscow urges end to US, British air strikes on Iraq. >The Russian Foreign Ministry called on Tuesday for an immediate end to US >and British air raids on targets in Iraq, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS >reported. > >In a statement, it said that air strikes on southern Iraq in recent days had >been illegal under international law. > >"Air strikes on Iraqi territory lead only to the heightening of tension in >the region," the ministry said. > >"And this happens at a time when the conviction is growing in the >international community that it is necessary to step up the efforts to >settle the Iraqi problem by political and diplomatic means". > > >Iraq says U.S. and British planes bomb north. >BAGHDAD, Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. and British planes bombed targets in >northern Iraq on Tuesday, their third raid in five days, an Iraqi military >spokesman said. >The spokesman, quoted by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), said seven "enemy >formations" flew over the provinces of Duhouk, Arbil and Ninveh at 11:20 >a.m. (0720 GMT), attacking civilian and service installations. >The spokesman did not specify exactly where the planes struck or mention any >casualties, but he said Iraqi air defence units fired on the jets and forced >them to return to their bases. >There was no immediate word on the report from Washington or London. >Last Saturday U.S. and British planes launched two nights of raids on the >southern town of Samawa, 270 km (168 miles) south of Baghdad, hitting >government warehouses and a rail station. >Two civilians were killed and 22 wounded in the raids, the first into Iraq >in six weeks. >U.S. and British planes patrol no-fly zones over southern and northern Iraq >set up after the 1991 Gulf War. The zones, which Baghdad does not recognise, >were imposed to protect a Kurdish enclave in the north and Shi'ite Moslems >in the south from possible attacks by Iraqi government forces. >The planes have been bombing targets in the no-fly zones frequently since >Baghdad stepped up its defiance of the Western-imposed restrictions in >December 1998. Iraq says 300 civilians have been killed and 900 wounded in >these attacks. >Russia sharply criticised the United States and Britain on Tuesday for last >week's air strikes, saying the attacks would only increase tensions in the >region. > >Iraq's Deputy PM Tariq Aziz explains Saddam's speech to Arab, foreign >envoys. >Text of report by Iraqi radio on 15th August > >Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz today met with the heads of the Arab >diplomatic missions accredited in Baghdad to get them thoroughly acquainted >with the text of the speech delivered by leader President Saddam Husayn on >8th August. Tariq Aziz affirmed that the speech included complaints and >criticism because the territories, airspace and territorial waters of Kuwait >and Saudi Arabia are being used for daily aggression against Iraq, which >results in the killing of Iraqi citizens and the destruction of Iraqi >property. Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti and Saudi rulers, who are parties to this >aggression, are satisfied. They are also financing this aggression, Aziz >added. > >Aziz refuted the allegations made by Kuwaiti rulers to the effect that the >speech included threats to Kuwait. Tariq Aziz said that in his speech, >President Saddam Husayn complained about the anti-Iraq aggression, which is >being carried out in collusion with and with the participation of two Arab >states, which are offering facilities to the aggressor troops and financing >this aggression. The president described this action as shameful and >disgraceful, which is true. > >The deputy prime minister wondered: How can an Arab state permit the use of >its territory, airspace and territorial waters for an aggression against a >sisterly Arab state? He affirmed that the words shameful and disgraceful his >excellency the president used to characterize this action were accurate. For >the past eight years, the Americans and the British have been engaged in >aggressions against Iraq, using the territories, airspace and territorial >waters of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. > >Tariq Aziz condemned a statement made by the Arab League secretary-general >in which he expressed regret, saying: Had he been objective, the Arab League >secretary-general should have condemned the aggression being perpetrated by >US and British aircraft against Iraq on a daily basis. Aziz wondered: Has >the secretary-general read the president's speech? If he has not done so, >this would render his conduct blameworthy. This is because an official who >holds such a pan-Arab post should not have made comments on a speech which >he has not read. But if he has read the speech and decided to make his >statement notwithstanding, this means that he is biased, which is not >becoming of the post of the secretary general. > >The deputy prime minister wondered: How can the Arab League >secretary-general allow himself to criticize a speech delivered by an Arab >leader whose country and people are the victims of aggression, a country >that was a founding member of the Arab League, a country whose women and >children are being killed by the aggressors? Does this not constitute a >flagrant bias in favour of falsehood? He should publicly apologize for this >bias. Barring this, he will be considered a party to the anti-Iraq >aggression. > >Tariq Aziz affirmed that the continued promotion of falsehoods by the >Kuwaiti rulers is designed to fabricate a crisis and give the Americans and >the British an excuse to continue with the aggression against Iraq and >perpetuate the sanctions clamped on its people. > >For the same purpose, Tariq Aziz met the heads of missions of the permanent >members of the UN Security Council accredited in Baghdad and informed them >of the content of the speech the leader president delivered on 8th August. >The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Muhammad Sa'id al-Sahhaf and >Foreign Ministry Under Secretaries Nuri Isma'il al-Wayyis and Dr Nabil Najm. > > >: Iraq bids for 175,000 T white sugar - trade. >LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Iraq has tendered to buy 175,000 tonnes of white >sugar from a Gulf supplier under the U.N. oil-for-food programme, traders >said on Tuesday. >They said Monday's tender saw Iraq bid $360 a tonne c&f Baghdad. >"That is a very full price. I would say they've paid up to be sure that >they're going to get the sugar," one trader said. >He suggested that with the recent rally in sugar prices, Iraq has been >suffering from non-delivery from certain suppliers and was now eager to >secure sugar. "The oil price is going through the ceiling so they can afford >to pay up," he said. > > >Iraqi Speaker condemns Saudi, Kuwaiti "funding of US-UK aggression". >Text of report by Iraqi radio on 15th August > >A delegation from the National Assembly led by Speaker Sa'dun Hammadi has >inspected the area that came under brutal US-UK bombing, which was carried >out with the Saudi and Kuwaiti regimes' support. The delegation observed the >effects of the devastating bombing, which killed two citizens and wounded >20. They examined the damage caused to the State Company for Construction >Materials; the Foodstuffs Centre; the [Al-Samawah] branch of the Grain >Industry Company; the Traffic Department; Al-Samawah Railway Station; and a >number of houses in the area of Al-Khashabah. The delegation then visited >the wounded citizens, who are hospitalized in the Saddam Public Hospital in >the city of Al-Samawah. > > >Iraq denies secret talks with Russia on ballistic missiles. >Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax > >Moscow, 15th August: The Iraqi Charge d'Affaires in Moscow Ahmad Nazim [as >transmitted] has denied Western reports alleging that secret talks between >Baghdad and Moscow are under way on the construction of a plant to produce >ballistic missile components in Iraq. > >In an interview with Interfax on Tuesday, Nazim called such information >"false" and said that it was intended to distract the world public from the >real problems concerning Iraq precisely at a time when US and British >aviation are delivering fresh air strikes on Iraqi territory. > >The secret negotiations allegedly being conducted by Baghdad with Russian >companies to build a plant to produce gyroscopes for ballistic missiles in >Iraq were reported by the British newspaper 'The Times', citing Western >intelligence service. > >The Russian Foreign Ministry has officially refuted this information. > >Sanctions Against Iraq. >Sir - I have lived in Jordan now for the past nine years and have seen the >effects of the economic sanctions on the Iraqi people, both here in Jordan >and in Iraq itself. I agree with Niall Andrews (The Irish Times, August 7th) >that life under sanctions cannot be called life. It is merely a living hell >for most people. I visited Iraq in May and while I had to endure the lack of >electricity in 40C heat for only 10 days, the people of Iraq have endured >this and much worse for the past 10 years. >Everywhere I heard stories of lack of medicine and food. One woman told us >that her family had searched all of the north of the country for blood-bags >to give blood to her 34-year-old brother who had leukemia. They had blood >but no bags. There is no point in repeating what Mr Andrews said so well but >it needs to be noted that thousands of Iraqis have fled the country, many >making their home illegally here in Jordan. These people, women mostly, live >nine or 10 to a room and make a living by selling cigarettes in the market. >It is a sad revelation to me that a five-year-old child who has worked on >the streets selling cigarettes and begging for the past two years is the >sole earner on whom her five siblings and her mother depends. Sadder still >is that this child feels this is a normal life. Although she is in school >now, thanks to the generosity of the local parish, she is now for the summer >back selling cigarettes at the traffic lights. >I thank Mr Andrews for raising this issue and pray that some solution will >be found. For surely no one can seriously think that the starving of a >nation and the decimation of its moral and social fabric can have any >results save the destruction of a country and the slaughter of its >innocents. - Yours, etc., Mary Burke, Franciscan Missionary of the Divine >Motherhood, Amman, Jordan. >Source: IRISH TIMES 15/08/2000 P13 > > >Indonesian President to Proceed With Visit to Iraq. >JAKARTA, August 15 (Xinhua) - Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will >proceed with his plan to go to Iraq and meet with President Saddam Hussein, >according to Foreign Affairs Minister Alwi Shihab. >"If Gus Dur (President Wahid) goes to Iraq, please do not see ( the visit) >only from a political (point of view) but also from a humanistic one," >Shihab told reporters here Tuesday. >The minister said Wahid could do so many things during his trip to Iraq, >including extending humanitarian help. >However, he did not state when the president would make the trip. >Wahid announced that he will visit Iraq in October after meeting with >Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez here Saturday. If he proceeds with the >visit, he will be the second head of state after Chavez to visit Iraq since >the 1990 Gulf war. >Responding to Wahid's plan, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said >such a trip would be inappropriate and ill-advised. She urged the Indonesian >leader to heed Washington's advice. >Shihab expressed his belief that the U.S. government would not "isolate" >Jakarta if Wahid does go to Baghdad. >Indonesia wants to see the trade embargo, imposed on Iraq by the United >Nations after the Gulf war, lifted very soon, he said. >"But we also call on Iraq to meet the United Nations' conditions," Shihab >added. >(c) Copyright 2000 Xinhua News Agency. > > >Senior U.N. Official Says Visit to Iraq Fruitful. >BAGHDAD, August 15 (Xinhua) - Benon Sevan, the executive director of the >United Nations oil-for-food program, said here Tuesday that he is very happy >with his current visit to Iraq and has held "fruitful and cordial" talks >with Iraqi officials. >Sevan was speaking at a press conference held at the Canal Hotel in the >eastern part of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. >"I have very fruitful and cordial discussions with almost all the ministers >as well as the vice president of Iraq," he said. >During his two-week visit, he also visited the three northern provinces of >Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaimaniya. >Talking about the oil-for-food program, Sevan said that the program is never >meant to solve all the problems of the Iraqi people. What he and his >colleagues have been trying is to see "how we can improve further the >implementation of the program." >The program can never be a substitute for the normal economic activity of >Iraq, he said. >Prior to his trip to Iraq, Sevan released a statement, declaring that the >U.N. humanitarian program is no substitute for the resumption of normal >economic activity in Iraq. >However, he said, "There is no doubt that the situation for many in that >country is significantly better than it was when the first oil was exported >under the program at the end of 1996." >Sevan is due to leave the country on Wednesday. He last visited Iraq in June >1999. >The three-year-old oil-for-food program is an exemption to the crippling >U.N. sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. >The program allows Iraq to sell oil in return for food, medicine and other >humanitarian supplies to help offset the impacts of the sanctions. >(c) Copyright 2000 Xinhua News Agency. > > >Iraq Exports Down. >Iraq exported 14.2 million barrels of oil, or 2.03 million barrels per day, >of crude oil in the week ended Aug. 11, down from 2.12 million b/d in the >previous week, the UN office of the Iraq program said in a statement. >The four-week average for Iraqi crude exports now stands at 2.16 million >b/d. >The revenue from the beginning of the current phase eight on June 9 is now >estimated around $2.9 billion from the export of 121 million bbl, the >statement said. >(c) Copyright 2000. The Oil Daily Co. > >Mariam Appeal to launch Iraq International >Work Brigades > >The London based Mariam Appeal recently announced their plans to form >monthly international work brigades who will help build a friendship village >in Iraq beginning May 2001. Mr Stuart Halford the Director of the Mariam >Appeal told ISM that the monthly work brigades will under the supervision of >Iraqi tradesmen and engineers engage in "reconciliation through >reconstruction" in an original form of international solidarity. > >Brigadiers will be in Iraq for exactly one month at a time from May until >October 2001 and every year thereafter. They will have a programme of >construction work in the mornings, lectures and discussions in the >afternoons and social and cultural activities in the evenings. Participants >should be able to speak either English or Arabic (there will be a translator >always on hand) and should be aged 18 and over. And of course they will need >to be fit enough for light construction duties and the heat of the Iraqi >summer. Brigadiers will be asked to make a contribution towards travel to >Amman. All other costs will be met by the Mariam Appeal which will fundraise >for that purpose. > >For further information please contact Stuart Halford at the Mariam >Appeal on [EMAIL PROTECTED] or by telephone on (0044) 207 872 5451 > >EXTRAS++++ > >Following is Benon Sevan's clearest statement yet on how the impact of >Committee 661 contractual holds is amplified due to the complimentarity of >goods: > >"... (holds) accounted for just 10 percent of the total processed but the >nature of the goods required made them essential to the whole operation, >(Sevan) said. > >'You can't distribute supplies if you don't have trucks,'' Sevan said." > >=== ><http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters08-15-015627.asp?reg=MIDEAST> > >U.N. official wants new approach to Iraq programme >REUTERS > >BAGHDAD, Aug. 15 - A senior United Nations official called on Tuesday for a >new approach to overcome obstacles hindering a U.N. humanitarian programme >in Iraq. >Benon Sevan, executive director of the Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP), >said an ''excessive'' number of holds by Security Council Sanctions >Committee 661 on purchasing contracts was seriously hindering the >oil-for-food programme. >''There is an urgent need...to look into the implementation of the >programme with a fresh look, with a fresh approach and flexibility,'' Sevan >told a news conference in Baghdad. >''Without breaking rules and procedures, I think we can use the rules more >credibly...there is room for improvement in the behaviour and performance by >all parties,'' he said. ''There has to be a concerted effort to move >forward.'' >The OIP is in charge of Iraq's oil-for-food deal with the United >Nations. The programme, which went into effect in December 1996, allows >Baghdad to sell unlimited quantities of oil over six months to buy food, >medicine and other essential needs for the Iraqi people. Iraq has been >under economic sanctions since it invaded Kuwait in 1990. > >CONTRACTS WORTH $1.7 BILLION ON HOLD >Sevan said that contracts worth $1.7 billion were on hold. They >concerned materials for electricity, telecommunications, transport and water >and sanitation. >These contracts accounted for just 10 percent of the total processed but the >nature of the goods required made them essential to the whole operation, he >said. >''You can't distribute supplies if you don't have trucks,'' Sevan >said. He said the ratio of holds in the oil industry, the ''bloodline'' of >the whole programme, stood at 21 percent of applications. The holds on >crucial spare parts were threatening the country's oil industry, Sevan said. > >''Iraq is producing and exporting oil at a very high price...as it is >damaging its wells, some of them irrevocably,'' he said. >A senior Iraqi Oil Ministry official said last week that unless spare >parts were approved soon Iraq would have to cut its production level, >currently 3.1 million barrels per day. >Asked what could be done to improve the implementation, Sevan said sanctions >committee 661 must remove inconsistencies in its holds policy for a start >and Iraq must choose contractors more carefully. He said his team must also >adjust and improve its observation role in areas under Iraqi control. > >''FRUITFUL AND CORDIAL'' TALKS >The U.N. official, who leaves Iraq on Wednesday, said he held ''very >fruitful and cordial'' talks during his two-week visit with Iraqi officials >including Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and ministers. > >Sevan said under the deal Baghdad had sold oil worth $30.5 billion.About $20 >billion of that amount was allocated for relief goods for the Iraqi people. >The rest goes to a U.N. fund that compensates victims of the 1991 Gulf War >and covers the cost of Sevan's 600 staff and those of U.N. weapons >inspection bodies. >Iraqi officials and the press have complained about the sluggish >arrival of goods purchased under the humanitarian programme, saying it has >done little to offset the suffering of Iraqis caused by the crippling >embargoes. >Sevan said around $8.35 billion worth of supplies had arrived in >Iraq. Some $4.2 billion of goods are on the way. >-- >Chevron has an oil tanker named after George W. Bush's foreign policy >advisor. The "Condoleeza Rice" was built in 1993, sails under a Bahamian >flag, and weighs 129,915 tons (deadweight).[1] > >Professor Condoleeza Rice has been a director of Chevron since 1991.[2] Her >hardline stance on Iraq is well-documented. In a just-published Reuter's >story, she stated: ``I would expect a somewhat tougher policy toward Iraq >(than Clinton's), where ... Governor Bush would be committed to a decisive >use of force if the opportunity ever came again.'' [3] > >Chevron is one of the world's largest oil companies, with 1999 net income up >55 percent from 1998, to $2.070 billion.[4] > >Regarding an earlier post on the confluence of oil and American politics, ><http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2000/msg00830.html>, perhaps David Ignatius >should be taken more seriously ;-) ?? > >=== >[1] <http://www.usmm.org/socalships.html> >Original listing courtesy of Harper's Magazine, Sep. 2000, page 9. > >[2] <http://www.chevron.com/finance/annual/board/frame.html> > >[3] <http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000815/pl/mideast_bush_dc_3.html> >Tuesday August 15 12:40 AM ET >JERUSALEM (Reuters) > >[4] <http://www.chevron.com/about/overview/profile.html> >-- > > >tel: +44 (0)20 78725451 >fax: +44 (0)20 77532731 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >web: www.mariamappeal.com > > > > > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------<e|- >GET A NEXTCARD VISA, in 30 seconds! Get rates >of 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Ongoing APR* and no annual fee! >Apply NOW! >http://click.egroups.com/1/7872/3/_/22961/_/966429719/ >--------------------------------------------------------------------|e>- > >Knowledge is Power! >Elimination of the exploitation of man by man >http://www.egroups.com/group/pttp/ >POWER TO THE PEOPLE! > >Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Change Delivery Options: >http://www.egroups.com/mygroups > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
