17 Aug 2000 08:14:48 -0400 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [pttp] IRAQ SACTIONS MONITOR Number 107 > >IRAQ SACTIONS MONITOR Number 107 >Thursday, August 17, 2000 > >LATEST+++++LATEST+++++LATEST+++++LATEST+++++ > >PLEASE NOTE THE MARIAM APPEAL HAS MOVED. THE NEW CONTACT NUMBERS ARE: >TEL: +44 (0)20 7403 5200 >FAX: +44 (0)20 7 403 3823 > > >Obtuse gamesmanship will drive the region to yet ... >By HAMOUD SALHI FOR GULF NEWS. >GULF NEWS - Comment and current affairs - Obtuse gamesmanship will drive the >region to yet another disaster. > >Ask any Arab leader about Iraq and he will be overwhelmed by the suffering >of its people. But ask him about his role in helping to lift the decade-long >UN sanctions against Iraq and most will recall nothing - only citing >President Saddam Hussain as the reason for his inability to act. >The reality, however, is just plain different; the entire region is being >held hostage to an ill-conceived U.S. policy strongly backed by Kuwait and >Saudi Arabia. As such, the presence of Saddam in Iraq has not prevented >international organisations from actively supporting the removal of the >embargo against the Iraqis. >Likewise, America's condemnation of those travelling to Iraq has not >deterred well-respected leaders from making the trip, travellers including >senators and representatives from the U.S.Congress, diplomats and >parliamentarians from Britain, and most recently Venezuelan President Hugo >Chavez. >Clearly then, the Arab world has no excuse for keeping its own political >distance.The region must free itself from its local and international >constraints. Avoiding the Iraqi issue just because of Saddam in no way >exonerates us from our responsibilities towards the Iraqi people: it only >makes the region more vulnerable to other dangers. >No one should in any way, shape, or form downplay what the Kuwaitis went >through during Iraq's invasion of their country. Even now, we must remain >suspicious of Saddam's desires and calculating plans. He simply cannot be >trusted. But unfortunately, Saddam has quite obviously won the war of >sanctions. >The February 1991 embargo put into place by the UN - read the U.S. - sought >to weaken Saddam's powers, but has done just the opposite. Instead of rising >up against Saddam, the Iraqi people have become more submissive: too >isolated to accuse their ruler of wrongdoing and too preoccupied with daily >survival to think about politics. Before the Gulf War, the Iraqi dinar was >worth three American dollars. >Today, one dollar buys 2000 dinars, and the vast majority of the Iraqi >middle and upper class languishes in ruins. >Therein lies the danger for the Arab world. An entire generation of Iraqis >is being born into poverty, malnutrition, and the knowledge that its >neighbours and the West are responsible for its misfortune. >Saddam has cleverly manipulated the devastating outcome of the sanctions to >strengthen his position among his people. He can still claim that not long >ago, Iraq had a strong, educated and affluent middle class and that much of >that prosperity has been destroyed by America and its allies. >For the rest of the population, the damage is cumulative. As Graham Fuller, >a Washington D.C.-based political consultant puts it: "If you are an Iraqi, >you could have lost one son to die in Iran and a second to die in Kuwait, >and then the Americans come and bomb you from B-52s on top of that. This >gives you a sense of the rage, frustration, and psychic disturbance that >could even cause you to go and act into the street to cheer for Saddam >Hussain." >Iraq's neighbours should be concerned about this more than anybody else. As >an Iraqi intellectual once said (and rightly so), "America can do all it >wants in the Gulf, but it will never be able to change geography. Whether >Kuwait likes or not, it will always be Iraq's neighbour." And this is >exactly why the region should push for lifting sanctions, as an attempt to >preempt any future instability. >According to other specialists, including Edward Peck, America's former >chief of mission in Iraq, the current situation in Iraq will most likely >produce a generation of militant Islamists who will be a threat to American >interests worldwide, including the Gulf region. >Former Iraqi minister Abdel Razek Al Hashemi concurs, although he approaches >the problem from a different perspective. In a recent television interview, >Hashemi reminded his Arab audience about the dangers of a desperate, >impoverished generation. He also pointed out that America may not always be >willing to protect Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from external threats, including >religious fundamentalists. >It is foolhardy to keep insisting that sanctions are an effective tool to >topple Saddam: this kind of obtuse gamesmanship will surely drive the region >to another disaster. But apparently any solution to the sanction issue must >pass from either Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, they themselves attached to an >American foreign policy that still uses Saddam as a justification for its >arming of the Middle East - including Israel - and the containment of Iran. >Taken as a whole, such a policy has done a disservice to the entire Arab >world, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia should recognise that. >There is simply too much at stake for the Arab world to keep its silence, a >silence that has put a dent in Arab solidarity, turning it into a "joke," as >UAE Minister of Information and Culture Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan >once described it. >Moreover, our non-intervention here has had a spillover effect on other >equally important Arab issues. Out of respect for Kuwait, Arab leaders have >not been able to convene a summit meeting for over four years. Even during >crucial times of the Middle East peace process, like today's, Kuwait and >Saudi Arabia have stood against such a meeting for fear that it would >include Iraq. >Previously, those countries have objected to such a gathering for lack of a >clear agenda, but what better agenda than to spell out the Arab world's >position on Jerusalem with the ultimate goal of strengthening the hand of >Palestinian National Authority President Yasser Arafat in future >negotiations with Israel? >It is time for the Arab world - and especially Kuwait and Saudi Arabia - to >act independently, to help the Iraqi people, and to direct itself. > > >Turkey captures 104 Iraqi illegal immigrants. >Turkish security forces on Wednesday captured 104 Iraqis at Nurdagi in the >southeastern Gaziantep province who entered Turkey illegally from northern >Iraq, the Turkish news agency Anatolia reported. > >It said the immigrants were taken into custody for violating the Turkish >borders and the passport law. > >Officials said the illegal immigrants would be deported once legal >proceedings were completed. > >Source: Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English 16 Aug > > >MOSCOW TO EXPAND COOPERATION WITH IRAQ. >Russia intends to further expand its cooperation with Iraq, Prime Minister >Mikhail Kasyanov said at the start of a meeting with Iraqi Deputy Prime >Minister Tariq Aziz. "Our contacts are conducive to a significant >improvement in relations between our countries," Kasyanov said. Russia is >doing all it can to expand cooperation with Iraq under existing agreements, >he said, >(c) 2000 by Interfax International, Ltd. > > >Russia has been strictly observing its commitments in the international >sanctions against Iraq >Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1755 gmt 14 Aug 00 >Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax >Moscow, 14th August: Moscow has taken note of the article published by `The >Times' on 14th August, which, citing Western intelligence sources, says that >Russian companies are supposedly conducting secret talks with Iraq on the >construction of an enterprise for manufacturing gyroscopes for long-range >missiles, sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry have told Interfax. >"In this connection, we would like to state in clear terms that Russia has >been strictly observing its commitments in the international sanctions >against Iraq," says a Foreign Ministry communique circulated on Monday [14th >August]. >"This false report is counterproductive to efforts to create a favourable >atmosphere for ensuring the implementation of the world community's >decisions on Iraq, in which Russia, alongside many other countries, has been >actively involved," the Foreign Ministry said. >It expressed regret that such a publication, "based on unchecked >information, has appeared in `The Times', which claims to be an objective >and respectable newspaper". > > >Iraq to reopen Saddam International Airport on 17th August - Palestinian >radio. >Text of report by Palestinian radio on 16th August > >Iraq announced today that Saddam International Airport will be officially >reopened for air navigation tomorrow after a 10-year closure as a result of >the siege imposed on Iraq. The Press Centre of the Ministry of Culture and >Information today invited the correspondents of the news agencies and the >international television networks to attend the celebration that will be >held at the airport tomorrow morning. > >The Iraqi Council of Ministers decided a few months ago to allocate >additional funds to complete rehabilitating the airport, which was built in >the 1980's, in preparation for opening it for international air navigation. >The Iraqi Airways Company, whose planes have remained on the ground for 10 >years as a result of the embargo imposed on Iraq, sent about 20 pilots to >Malaysia late last year on a training mission in preparation for resuming >its air traffic. The company has about 30 planes, mostly Boeing, which are >presently at the airports of Iraq, Jordan, Tunisia and Iran. > >Source: Voice of Palestine, Ramallah, in Arabic 1800 gmt 16 Aug > > >Petrol Ofisi to sell north Iraq diesel in Turkey. >ANKARA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The Turkish government has authorised newly >privatised Petrol Ofisi to sell in the domestic market diesel brought in by >trucks from northern Iraq, a senior energy official said on Wednesday. >"Petrol Ofisi's new owners have come and asked to buy from the >75,000-tonnes-per-month allotment for diesel brought into Turkey," an >official, who asked for anonymity, told Reuters. >"The company was then given the right to buy half the monthly quota, or >37,500 tonnes, at 330,000 lira (51 U.S. cents) per litre and sell it in >local market," he said. >The monthly quota of 75,000 tonnes of diesel is equivalent to 90 million >litres, he said. >Turkey's leading commercial bank Is Bankasi and publishing conglomerate >Dogan Holding bought off 51 percent of Petrol Ofisi for $1.26 billion in >July. > > > >UN Official Seeks Change. >A senior UN official called Tuesday for a new approach to overcome obstacles >hindering a UN humanitarian program in Iraq. > >Benon Sevan, executive director of the Office of the Iraq Program (OIP), >said an "excessive" number of holds by Security Council Sanctions Committee >661 on purchasing contracts was seriously hindering the oil-for-food >program. >The OIP is in charge of Iraq's oil-for-food deal with the UN. The program, >which went into effect in December 1996, allows Baghdad to sell oil to buy >food, medicine, and other essential needs for the Iraqi people. > >Iraq has been under economic sanctions since it invaded Kuwait in 1990. > >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% of the total processed >but the nature of the goods required made them essential to the whole >operation, he said. >He said the ratio of holds in the oil industry, the "bloodline" of the whole >program, stood at 21% of applications. The holds on crucial spare parts > > >Iraqi News Agency reacts to Saudi defence minister's comments. >Text of report by Iraqi radio on 16th August > >The defence minister of the Saudi regime told the Saudi Press Agency: We >assure our brethren Iraqi people that Saudi Arabia has never and under no >circumstances fired a bullet against an Arab. The political editor of the >Iraqi News Agency [INA] reacted to the statement made by the defence of the >Saudi regime, saying: Either the memory of the Saudi regime's defence >minister is damaged and short-term, to such an extent that he has forgotten >that Saudi Arabia fired bullets on many Arabs in the modern history, or >Minister Sultan is a liar who does feel ashamed of making cheap and exposed >lies. This is because Saudi Arabia fired bullets on the Yemeni revolution >and the Egyptian army at the time, and fired bullets on Iraq in the >treacherous 30-state aggression. What was the Saudi pilot, whose plane was >downed in Iraq, doing other than firing missiles and bombs against the >people of Iraq? > >IRAQ: A continuing tragedy. >THE AMERICAN BOMBING of "enemy positions" in Iraq, without evoking a whimper >of protest from the rest of the world, comes as a grim reminder of the >terrible price that the country continues to pay for the presumed sins of >Mr. Saddam Hussein (remember him?). For nearly ten years after their ruler, >in a blatant violation of international norms, invaded neighbouring Kuwait, >the Iraqis have been suffering grievously from the sanctions imposed in its >wake. The sanctions, slapped after the Persian Gulf War ended and whose > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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