>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 127 >Tuesday, September 26, 20000 > >LATEST+++++++++++++++Iraq forsakes the dollar in oil deals+++Sanctions >committee divided on passenger flights+++More planes take to the air+++Iraq >claims to have hit US or Brit plan+++Russians return from Baghdad+++And more >news than you could shake a stick at+++++++ > >Iraq no longer to use U.S. dollars in transactions >BAGHDAD (AFX) - The Iraqi government said it will no longer use dollars in >its commercial transactions, as it is the currency of "an enemy country". >It will use other foreign currencies, including the euro, it said. > >UN sanctions committee divided over response to flights to Iraq > >UNITED NATIONS, Sept 25 (AFP) - The UN committee overseeing sanctions >against Iraq on Monday was unable to agree about an appropriate response to >flights to Baghdad, the committee president, Dutch ambassador Peter van >Walsum, said. > >"There was no agreement," van Walsum said, noting the 15 committee members >discussed for more than two hours the recent French and Russian landings in >Baghdad and those expected in the near future. > >Van Walsum said, "My view was that there was no consensus for a change of >practice, so I felt that I should continue the existing practice" of >requiring committee authorization for all flights to Iraq. > >The committee members, who represent the permanent seats of the UN Security >Council, are profoundly divided over the legality of the flights to Baghdad. > >Britain and the United States maintain that committee authorization is >necessary, while France believes that since the United Nations resolutions >do not impose an aerial embargo, a simple notification is sufficient. > >France on Monday submitted a proposal to change the committee's practice, in >place since the 1990 Gulf War, when the UN imposed a severe course of >sanctions against Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait. > >The proposal stipulated that the sanctions committee must be notified in >advance of prospective flights to Baghdad, but made no mention of >"authorization," a diplomat said. > >France proposed that notification to the committee must include the reasons >for the flight, its flight pattern, the plane's registration information and >the carrier's nationality. > >Planes flying to Baghdad's international airport, the only airport to be >authorized as a destination, will have to be inspected prior to their >departure and upon their arrival to ensure no contraband made it aboard. > >Van Walsum indicated that the French proposal will be discussed at the next >committee meeting, "probably next week." > > >Jordan prepares to send plane to Iraq: foreign minister > >AMMAN, Sept 26 (AFP) - Jordan is preparing to send a plane to Baghdad with >cabinet ministers and parliamentarians on board, Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah >al-Khatib told AFP on Tuesday. > > "Jordan is making the necessary preparations to send a Jordanian plane to >Baghdad," Khatib said. > > > "Jordanian officials, cabinet ministers and parliamentarians will be on >board the aircraft," Khatib said. > > He did not give a specific date for the flight but government sources said >it will take place within 48 hours. > > Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb could travel to Iraq after the flight, >government sources said. > > The flight will crown efforts by Jordan to ease the 10-year-old UN embargo >on neighbouring Iraq and follows an official request by Amman for >the United Nations to permit the resumption of air links with Iraq. > > >Russian goodwill mission back home from Iraq > > Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS > Moscow, 26th September: > >A Russian group made up of State Dumadeputies, business leaders, scientists >and cultural workers tookfive tonnes of badly needed medicines and other >humanitarian aidto Iraq, where people have lived in conditions of >economicblockade for the past 10 years, and returned to Moscow fromBaghdad >on Tuesday morning [26th September]. > > Group members told ITAR-TASS that the meetings in Baghdad > confirmed that relations between the two countries were steady > and friendly in character and that both countries were keen on > laying the ground for future cooperation in the post-sanctions > period. > > Russian Ambassador to Iraq Aleksandr Shein described the visit > as "important and useful". He said in an exclusive interview > with ITAR-TASS that the existing ties between the two committees > on cooperation under whose aegis the humanitarian action took > place pave the way for the development of relations between the > Russian Federation and Iraq through the efforts made by > nongovernmental organizations, as well as business leaders and > cultural workers. > > >Russia to develop cooperation with Iraq > >Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax >Baghdad, 26th September: >Iraqi First Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has denied rumours in a number >of the mass media that US oil companies have entered the Iraqi oil market >using middlemen. "We know the oil market well and understand who could >represent the interests of the Americans. We work only with our friends," > >Aziz said at a meeting with Russian journalists in Baghdad. He also >underlined that after the removal of UN sanctions, Iraq >is ready to offer Russian oil companies a number of privileges in operating >on the Iraqi oil market. > >According to Iraqi First Deputy Oil Minister Fayiz Shahin, the UN sanctions >committee is hindering the implementation of >agreements signed earlier between Iraq and Russian oil companies. > >"Due to the actions of the sanctions committee, all work on our projects >with Russian companies has been frozen," he said. >An Interfax correspondent reports that an agreement was signed in Baghdad on >25th September on cooperation and joint activity >between the Russian committee for international cultural and business >cooperation and the Iraqi friendship, peace and >solidarity committee and the Russian-Iraqi friendship society. >The agreement involves the setting up in Iraq of cultural centres and >various types of foundations. The parties have >agreed to carry out a wide cultural informational exchange, support contacts >between business circles in both countries and >finance joint programmes. > >Jordanian plane to fly to Iraq on > >A Jordanian passenger plane will leave for Baghdad Wednesday in >contravention of the air embargo, Jordanian newspaper 'Al-Ra'y' >reported on Tuesday. It said Jordanian Foreign Minister Abd-al-Ilah >al-Khatib had confirmed the report. > >The plane will carry political and public Jordanian figures as >well as aid, the paper said. "This Jordanian decision comes as a result of >efforts and initiatives undertaken by His Majesty King Abdallah II >Bin-al-Husayn, who stressed on several occasions... the importance of >"lifting the unjust embargo imposed on sisterly >Iraq." Source: 'Al-Ra'y', Amman, in Arabic 26 Sep 00 > > >Iraq wants to raise oil output to 3.4 mln bpd in spring 2001 > >NICOSIA (AFX) - Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Rashid said Iraq is aiming to >increase its oil production to 3.4 mln barrels per day in spring 2001, under >a general strategy of maximising production. >In an interview with the Middle East Economic Survey magazine, Rashid said >he hopes the equipment that Iraq was waiting for in September will arrive in >January or February, which would allow the country to raise its crude >production to 3.3 mln bpd or perhaps 3.4 mln bpd in spring 2001. > >Rashid said Iraq is adopting a policy of maximising production. But if there >are difficulties, shortages, or if Iraq is attacked, it will change its >production levels as a result, he added. > >Iraq will probably continue to produce at the current level of 3 mln bpd >until Jan 2001, the minister said, but it all depends on the approval and >the arrival of the necessary oil infrastructure equipment, he said. Iraq's >orders for this equipment have been put on hold since the Gulf War in 1991. > > >HOW WILL HISTORY JUDGE IRAQ POLICY? >From CHICAGO TRIBUNE, September 25th, 2000 >A generation from now, when historians look back on the full effect of >United Nations economic sanctions against Iraq, they may or may not call the >deaths of more than 1 million Iraqis genocide. To be sure, the moral >responsibility for those lost lives lies squarely with Iraqi dictator Saddam >Hussein--and his refusal to allow UN inspectors unfettered access to monitor >the dismantling of his weapons of mass destruction. >But 10 years after the UN slapped sanctions on Iraq for its August 1990 >invasion of Kuwait, it's high time Americans asked themselves serious >questions about their responsibility in the entire sordid affair. Isn't >there a better way for the world to contain Iraq than a policy that kills an >estimated 5,000 Iraqi children a month without dislodging, or even harming, >Hussein? It's a fair question, but one that the Clinton administration >refuses to address, doggedly insisting that if sanctions were lifted, >Hussein would quickly reconstitute his arsenal of chemical, biological or >nuclear arms Perhaps. There's a legitimate question as to how effective the >sanctions have been on disarmament, but there is no doubt that they have >promoted disease, infant mortality and malnutrition. >Nor do the presidential candidates want to broach the subject, lest they >appear weak on defense. Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney >attacked President Clinton last week for letting Hussein "slip off the hook" >by avoiding UN arms inspections. That's a strange reversal from the man who >was defense secretary during the Gulf War, when the U.S. allowed Hussein to >remain in power. Truth is, neither Texas Gov. George W. Bush nor Vice >President Al Gore have shown they would be bold enough to change Iraq >policy. >America needs a policy that liberates the U.S. from responding to every >twitch from Hussein. That means lifting the economic sanctions and keeping >the military embargo in place, while making it plain that the U.S. will >respond with massive retaliation if Hussein ever again threatens his >neighbors. >Deterrence has worked. >Moreover, the international consensus for the sanctions is crumbling. In >recent weeks, Russia and France have been sending in civilian aircraft in >violation of the sanctions. Moderate Arab allies of the U.S. are >increasingly clamoring for the embargo to be lifted. >Sure, Hussein is capitalizing on that trend with saber rattling and >complaints about Kuwait drilling under its border for Iraqi oil. Hussein >draws attention this way, or by threatening to meddle with the price of oil. >But Americans ought to think hard about reports from people such as Kathy >Kelly of Chicago-based Voices in the Wilderness, who just spent seven weeks >in Iraq and heard U.S. planes bombing. In Basra, there was often no >electricity by day, little refrigeration equipment, shortages of blood bags >and little chlorine to purify water. Disease was rampant and infrastructure >ruined. >The UN's oil-for-food plan isn't working. The UN arms inspection regime has >failed. Hussein is earning hundreds of millions of dollars by smuggling oil >despite the UN's economic embargo. This Iraq policy is increasingly a >humanitarian and diplomatic disaster. >It's morally unsustainable, and years hence, if historians view it as >murder, let no one say they didn't know. > > >Iraq, Jordan discuss $250m oil pipeline project (Jordan Times. Saturday, >September 24, 2000) > >A Jordanian delegation currently visiting Baghdad is discussing with Iraqi >government officials a mechanism for the implementation of the projected oil >pipeline extending from the Iraqi borders to the Jordan Petroleum Refinery >Company, a distance of nearly 260km to transport the crude, according to >Minister of Energy Wael Sabri. The minister said that the estimated cost of >the pipeline which will carry the crude to the refinery near Zarqa is $250 >million. > >A report in Al Ra'i Arabic daily quoted the minister as saying that the >delegation which is led by ministry secretary general, Ahmad Bashir, will >also pave the way for negotiations over the cost of oil for the next year, a >subject expected to be discussed by the middle of November, the minister >pointed out. > > >Iraq in `strong position` to erode sanctions: minister >NICOSIA, Sept 25 (AFP) - Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Rashid said Baghdad was in >a strong position to help erode the crippling sanctions imposed on the >country after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, in an interview published Monday. > >"Sanctions will be eroded, disintegrated, due to the will and steadfastness >of the Iraqi people, the wisdom of our leadership in managing this crisis >situation, the unjust cause that our enemy, the US administration, is >following and the support of friendly countries that are fully aware of the >situation," Rashid said. > >"We are moving ahead with our own plans to increase, diversify and widen our >trade relationships with neighbouring countries, as well as with others," >Rashid told the Cyprus-based Middle East Economic Survey (MEES). > >"We have soldified our political unity. We are improving our economic >system. This puts us in a strong position. The whole policy of America >towards Iraq has failed," Rashid said. > >"Do we expect the United States to lift sanctions? This is absolutely not >our policy," the minister said. "What has happened during the last two years >is that the moves to destroy Iraq are finished." > >Iraq has been under embargo ever since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait but is > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
