>From: Mark Clement <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 116 >Thursday September 7, 2000 > >LATEST++++++LATEST+++++LATEST+++++++ > >Hopes rest with private talks on the Balkans, Middle East and Cyprus > >Problems with North Korea, Iraq and a series of other disputes overshadowed >the UN millennium summit in New York. >The US president, Bill Clinton, listed them in his speech to the summit: the >Middle East, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Yugoslavia. >He singled out the Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, as one of the >worst offenders in the international community in the past 10 years. > >In spite of a British proposal this week to expand the membership, the >security council meeting today will not address fundamental reform but >instead concentrate on current issues, such as the sanctions imposed on >Iraq. > >Turkish dam `will rob 70,000 of their homes'. > >A confidential report commissioned by the government into the controversial >Ilisu dam project has revealed significant underestimates of the chaos and >misery it would bring to tens of thousands of people. > >Up to 78,000 Kurdish people, around three times the number originally >thought, will be made homeless and landless by the British-backed scheme in >Turkey, according to the report seen by the Guardian. > >The report makes clear that thousands of already extremely poor people are >at risk of `falling into greater destitution' if the government goes ahead >with its plan to make �200m of taxpayers money available to contractors >Balfour Beatty to allow the dam to be built. > >Reports that the government was dropping the dam project have been formally >denied by Richard Caborn, the trade minister. He was writing to protesters >on behalf of the prime minister, who has been threatened with high court >action because damming the Tigris would alter the flow of water to Iraq and >Syria without any consultation. > >His letter reiterating the British support for the project came on >August 22, four days after the report on the flawed resettlement plan was >sent to the Department of Trade and Industry by Ayse Kudat, 56, who is >Turkish but has most recently been the World Bank's head of social >development. > >The report, leaked yesterday to the Guardian, had been kept secret even >though the department said it would make documents connected with the Ilisu >project public. > >The report said the dam would inundate the most fertile irrigated land in >the area where landlessness and poverty was already widespread. Half of the >people did not grow crops but grazed animals on pasture, worked for cash >payments and relied on subsistence gardening `to stay alive'. > >The people who were forced to move would be at high risk of falling into >greater destitution, Dr Kudat said. > >UK and other European countries to report on the Turkish plans to resettle >Kurds in the area to be inundated. She said some of the area was not >accessible because of Turkish military operations against the Kurds, but >potentially the number of people affected was between 47,000 and 78,000 - up >to three times the government's original estimate. > >The coalition of environment and human rights groups opposing the dam said >the report highlighted 10 serious problems with the Turkish resettlement >plan which violated World Bank and OECD guidelines on financing such >projects. These included Turkey's failure to provide a resettlement budget. >Kerim Yildiz, a director of the Ilisu Dam Campaign, said: `This report >clearly indicates that the Turkish government is in no position to fulfil >even the basic conditions put forward by the UK government.' > > >New ferry service to open between Dubai, Iraq. >Text of report by Abu Dhabi newspaper 'Al-Ittihad' web site on 4th September > >At the beginning of October a new ferry line will open between Dubai and Um >al-Qasr so there will be two marine lines connecting Dubai and Iraq. The new >line, that has been called the hot line, will be an express line that will >go to Um al-Qasr and back in 24 hours. The boat will offer several luxury >amenities for the travellers, and will stop in Bahrain. > >The inauguration of this new line will increase to four the passenger lines >from Rashid port: Dubai-Lengeh, Dubai-Bandar Abbas, and two lines from Dubai >to Um al-Qasr through Bahrain. > >Tourists, officials allowed to take home-made products out of Iraq. >Text of report by Iraqi radio on 6th September > >The Ministry of Finance has decided to allow Arab and foreign tourists, >official and popular delegations, and people residing abroad - including >expatriates - to take products of the socialist, mixed, and private sectors >outside Iraq, providing they do not trade in them. The products are to be >purchased using funds declared by the individuals and in foreign currency. >They will be exempted from tax. > >An authorized source at the ministry said the above-mentioned products >include: acoustic equipment, home appliances, hand-made rugs, blankets, >leather outfits, and material made of wool and cotton. > > >Azeri Islamic leader to visit "cancer-stricken" Iraqi president. >Text of report by Azerbaijani newspaper 'Yeni Musavat' on 6th September > >As has been reported, Iraqi President Saddam Husayn is suffering from a >serious illness. The report said that he was suffering from a tumor of the >lymph nodes [lymphatic cancer] and that he has six months to a year to live. > >We asked the leader of the Tovba [Repentance] Society, Haji Abdul, who had >quite good relations with the Iraqi leader at one time, whether he would >visit him in his difficult days. Abdul said: "I will go to the Iraqi embassy >today. In two days I am going to Iraq and will definitely visit my friend >Saddam Husayn." > > >Clinton Calls For Activist UN, Peace In Middle East. >WASHINGTON - (Dow Jones)-U.S. President Bill Clinton called Wednesday for a >stronger, more activist U.N. and told world leaders who were attending the >Millenium Summit at the international organization that they must be willing >to support this goal. >In addition, Clinton called for a renewed push by both the Israelis and the >Palestinians to achieve a lasting peace and urged supporters on both sides >to help broker such a deal. >With regard to the U.N.'s mission, Clinton said that while there are fewer >wars between nations currently, more nations are being torn apart by ethnic >and religious conflict and said the world couldn't turn a blind eye to the >internal conflicts of a country. >"We must respect sovereignty and territorial integrity but still find a way >to protect people, as well as borders," Clinton said. >Clinton cited the U.N. interventions in both East Timor and Sierre Leone as >successful missions that saved lives. The president said that more should be >done to enforce the U.N.'s will on Myanmar and said the U.N. resolutions >imposed against Iraq must be enforced. > >US, Britain dismiss Iraq plane strike claim. > >BAGHDAD, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Iraq said its anti-aircraft defences hit one of >a group of Western warplanes on Wednesday, but the United States and Britain >dismissed the claim, saying that no planes were hit. > >"Our brave ground and missile defences have hit one of the aggressors' crows >(planes)," an Iraqi military spokesman was quoted as saying by the official >news agency INA. >He did not say whether the plane had been shot down or simply hit in the >no-fly zone over the south of the country. > >"Evidence indicates that one of the crows was hit while the rest were forced >to flee to their bases," he said. >In Washington, Air Force Lt. Col. Vic Warzinski said no U.S. warplanes were >hit over southern Iraq. Aircraft from the two countries regularly police >no-fly zones set up over northern and southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War. > >"Our planes flew over southern Iraq today. But there was no action and all >planes returned safely to base," Warzinski, a Pentagon spokesman, told >Reuters. >Britain's Ministry of Defence denied that any British planes were in the >area. "There were no patrols over no-fly zones either north or south today," >a ministry spokesman told Reuters. > >The Iraqi spokesman said the allied aircraft was hit at 1:05 p.m. (5:05 a.m. >EDT) as the warplanes flew over the provinces of Basra, Meisan, Muthanna, >Qadissiya and Najaf. > >Minister discusses opening Jordan-Iraq air route with UN, Iraqi minister. >Text of report by Iraqi radio on 6th September > > >Jordanian Transport Minister Muhammad Al-Kalalidah said his country is >conducting talks with the United Nations to open the way for aviation >between Iraq and Jordan. In statements to the Iraqi News Agency and the >Iraqi Satellite Channel following his meeting with Transport and >Communications Minister Ahmad Murtada Ahmad, the Jordanian minister said he >expects to receive the UN's reply next month. > > >100 Turkish Companies to Attend Baghdad International Fair. >BAGHDAD, September 6 (Xinhua) - Some 100 Turkish companies are expected to >participate in the upcoming Baghdad International Fair which falls on >November 1, local media reported Wednesday. > >These companies will exhibit medical, agricultural and construction >equipment, car spare parts, detergents, carpets, leather products, ceramics >and other products. > >The number of Turkish companies to take part in the fair will be twice the >number of last year, when some 50 Turkish firms attended the annual event. > >As Iraq's neighbor, Turkey has been trying to grab a bigger share of Iraq's >lucrative reconstruction market, estimated at 200 billion U.S. dollars. > >Turkish firms have won contracts worth more than 477 million dollars from >Iraq within the framework of the United Nations oil-for-food program. > > >Iraq oil exports rose 71,000 bpd in latest week > >NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Iraqi oil exports rose 71,000 barrels per day >(bpd) to 2.53 million bpd for the week ended Sept. 1, the United Nations >said on Wednesday. > >The four-week average for Iraq exports in the oil-for-food programme is now >2.38 million bpd. This is slightly higher than the 2.3 million bpd exports >that Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Mohammed Rasheed said the country will export >through 2000. > >Iraq, at $28.19 per barrel, in the week received a record high price for its >crude sold in the oil-for-food programme, U.N. figures showed. > >Iraq's export rate thus far in the eighth phase of the programme is 2.06 >million bpd. >(C) Reuters Limited 2000. > >Iraq urges oil lifters to pay Gulf port charge. >LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Iraq is urging crude oil lifters to pay a new >port charge at its Gulf terminal at Mina al-Bakr or risk being turned away >for not paying up, industry sources said on Wednesday. > >"We hope we don't have to turn anyone away, but that is our next move," a >source in Baghdad told Reuters. > >About half the tanker owners and lifters at Mina al-Bakr, which handles up >to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of Basrah Light exports, have paid up >since the $15,000 to $18,000 per ship fee was imposed in June, an Iraqi >official said. > >Payment ultimately has been made by some in Iraqi dinars - now valued at >about 2,000 to the U.S. dollar - but others are finding it difficult to come >up with the huge amount of local currency needed, industry sources said. > > >Iraq plans Gulf War monument > >BAGHDAD, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Iraq is planning to build a large monument in >Baghdad to commemorate the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi newspapers said on >Wednesday. > >They said that President Saddam Hussein met a group of Iraqi sculptors, >designers and architects on Tuesday when they presented him with several >mock-ups of the monument depicting the "Um al-Ma'rek (mother of all >battles)", Iraq's nickname for the Gulf War. > >"The president was briefed on a number of designs and maquettes which depict >brave battles fought by the great sons of Iraq against the 30-nation >aggression," the ruling Baath Party newspaper said. > >Reserve officers, soldiers called up - London-based paper. >Source: `Al-Quds al-Arabi' web site, London, in Arabic 4 Sep 00 > >In an unusual step that has coincided with the media war which Iraq has been >waging for some time against Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the Mobilization and >Statistics Directorate in the Iraqi Defence Ministry has called upon reserve >officers from Course 41 and reserve soldiers born in 1975 to report at the >directorate, in the case of officers, and the recruitment departments, in >the case of soldiers, as of 26th September. Communique No 5 of the year >2000, which was issued by the Defence Ministry, says that whoever fails to >report on the aforementioned date shall be considered as having defaulted in >the performance of his military service and subject to the relevant penal >codes. Regarding Iraqis outside the country, the communique says that they >should report to Iraqi embassies and missions abroad to state their cases, >provided they reported at the Mobilization and Statistics Directorate, in >the case of officers, and the recruitment departments, in the case of >soldiers, upon their return to Iraq to state their cases and offer proof. > > >Jordanian industry, transport ministers arrive in Baghdad. >Source: Iraqi TV, Baghdad, in Arabic 1700 gmt 4 Sep 00 >Text of report by Iraqi TV on 4th September >Wasif Azar, the Jordanian minister of industry and trade, and Jordanian >Minister of Transport Muhammad al-Kalalidah arrived in Baghdad this evening >on a two-day visit to Iraq. > >UN envoy urges member states to lift sanctions. >Source: Republic of Iraq Radio, Baghdad, in Arabic 2000 gmt 4 Sep 00 > >Ambassador Sa'id Hamid Hasan, Iraq's permanent UN representative, has said >that the sanctions imposed on Iraq are a flagrant breach of the UN Charter >and the international and human law, as stated by the reports of the UN >agencies and the humanitarian organizations. > >In a letter to the ambassadors of the Arab countries, except Kuwait and >Saudi Arabia, as well as to the ambassadors of 100 UN member states, he >said: The comprehensive sanctions imposed on Iraq have entered their 11th >year and that they are by all standards a collective punishment inflicted >upon the Iraqi people. These sanctions, he continued, have transferred Iraq >from a state of relative prosperity to a state of comprehensive poverty, as >pointed out by Ambassador Amorim in his report to the UN Security Council No >365 in 1999. The sanctions resulted in the death of 1.5 million Iraqi >citizens, including half a million children below the age of five. This was >also affirmed by a UNICEF report published on 12th August 1999. The >sanctions have also undermined the social fabric of the Iraqi society and >kill 7,000 Iraqi children every month. > >Iraqi vice president, Jordanian ministers in talks. > >Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan has discussed bilateral ties with >visiting Jordanian Industry Minister Wasif Azar and Transport Minister >Muhammad al-Kalalidah, Iraqi radio reported on Tuesday. > >Ramadan expressed confidence in future relations between the two countries >and also reiterated President Saddam Hussein's appeal for Arab cooperation >and an increase in economic and commercial exchanges. > >The Jordanian ministers said their visit was aimed at promoting development >in bilateral ties, both within and outside the framework of the joint >committee. > >The meeting was also attended by Iraqi Trade Minister Muhammad Mahdi Salih >and Transport and Communications Minister Ahmad Murtada Ahmad who discussed >future cooperation with Jordan in commerce, economics and the service >industries. > >Source: Republic of Iraq Radio, Baghdad, in Arabic 5 Sep > > >MISCELLANY+++++++++++++++++++ > >We Must Break Out of the Failed 'Saddam Trap'. >By SCOTT RITTER, Scott Ritter is a former weapons inspector for UNSCOM and >the author of "Endgame: Solving the Iraqi Problem, Once and For All" (Simon >& Schuster, 1999). E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >While the presidential candidates jockey to define their agendas, there is >one issue on which both Al Gore and George W. Bush see eye to eye: Saddam >Hussein must go.While neither candidate has offered a precise plan on how to >achieve this goal, it seems clear that regardless of who wins the White >House, the next four years will see a continuation of America's decade-long >fixation on the president of Iraq. > >The problem of Iraq is complex and vexing. Over the past eight years, the >Clinton administration was trapped in a Saddam-centric policy of regime >removal, which dictated the containment of the Iraqi dictator through >economic sanctions regardless of the reality of Iraq's disarmament >obligation and the horrific humanitarian cost incurred by the people of >Iraq. > >This policy has been an abject failure, a fact that has prompted much of the >international community to start viewing Iraq and its leader more >sympathetically. Whoever wins the election in November will face the >daunting task of overcoming the Clinton legacy on Iraq: a hopelessly divided >Security Council, an impasse on weapons inspections, a degenerating system >of economic sanctions, the loss of American credibility and a resurgent >Saddam Hussein. > >Soon, weapons inspectors from the United Nations Monitoring, Verification >and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) will try to resume inspections of Iraqi >weapons facilities. Such inspections were stopped 20 months ago, in the >aftermath of Operation Desert Fox and the resultant collapse of UNMOVIC's >predecessor organization, the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM). >Iraq has rejected any cooperation with UNMOVIC as long as sanctions remain >in place. The result is that, yet again, the Security Council will be >confronted with a crisis regarding Iraq. > >Three of the five permanent members of the Security Council-Russia, France >and China-have made no secret of their sympathies toward Iraq and their >opposition to America's Iraq policy. The rest of the world appears more >inclined to trade with Iraq than continue a pointless and morally bankrupt >policy of economic sanctions. The fact that both major presidential >candidates couch their justification for the continuation of economic >sanctions on the grounds that Saddam Hussein is still in power and not on >any sound assessment of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction only further >distances their respective positions from the rest of the world. > >In fairness, the issue of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is no easy >hurdle. Years of Iraqi obfuscation, lies and general lack of cooperation >have made any unbiased assessment of its disarmament obligation virtually >impossible. It is easy, given Iraq's uneven record, to accept analysis based >on speculation, rumor and hyperbole. This is the course that many, including >Richard Butler, the former executive chairman of UNSCOM, have taken. The >message of Iraq as "the greatest threat," however overblown, is widely >accepted in those corners prone to demonizing Iraq and Saddam Hussein. > >The reality, however, is quite different. Rolf Ekeus, Butler's predecessor >as the head of UNSCOM, acknowledged that by 1995, Iraq had been >"fundamentally disarmed" and that "all that remained were questions." All of >the major confrontations between UNSCOM and Iraq that took place between >1996 and 1998 concerned the search for documents and weapons components, not >weapons or weapons production capability. >Iraq no longer possesses meaningful quantities of weapons of mass >destruction or the means to produce such weapons. And yet Iraq continues to >be punished by economic sanctions that have directly or indirectly led to >the deaths of more than 1.2 million Iraqi civilians, primarily young >children and the elderly. The justification for this tragedy lies not in >Iraq's disarmament obligation, which has been largely fulfilled, but rather >in the policy of regime removal pursued by the United States. This policy >has failed, and yet it represents the cornerstone of the thinking on Iraq >for both Gore and Bush. > >The Saddam Trap has foiled America's Iraq policy for eight years, and unless >both candidates are willing and able to break free of such Saddam-centric >thinking and focus on the larger issue of Iraq, it will continue to ensnare >America for the foreseeable future. >(c) The Times Mirror Company 2000. > > >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) 207 403 5200 >_________________________________________________________ >Dear friends, >I am sure this online petition to end the sanctions against our Iraqi kin >will interest many of you: > >http://www.PetitionOnline.com/s343/ > >Khaled Bayomi > >_________________________________________________________ > > >ADVERTISEMENT > >Position Four Brigade Coordinators Required (Full Time - with 3 >months per year on site in Iraq) For the MARIAM APPEAL "Iraq International >Work Brigades" > >Salary � 20,000 per annum > >To Start January 2001 > >The Mariam Appeal, which campaigns for the lifting of sanctions on Iraq, is >sending a series of International Work Brigades to Iraq to build an >international friendship village that will be used as a centre for >international friendship and solidarity with the people of Iraq. > >The village will symbolise "reconciliation through reconstruction" and will >upon completion, be used by Iraqi children for recuperation, rest, education >and play. The project will enable people from all over the world to express >solidarity with the people of Iraq, who have suffered grievously under the >10 year embargo. The brigades will perform light construction duties (under >the guidance of Iraqi tradesmen) hold discussion and education sessions and >enjoy a variety of cultural and social activities. > >Interested ? think you have what it takes to organise international brigades >? then please contact us at : > >MARIAM APPEAL >Brigades Department >13(a) Borough High Street >London SE1 9SE > >tel: +44 (0)20 7403 5200 >fax: +44 (0)20 7403 3823 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >web: www.mariamappeal.com > > > > > > >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. 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