IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 130
Monday, October 2, 2000
LATEST NEWS++++++++++++
Turkish drought worsens regional water row: Iraq and Syria say new dams
threaten supply
>From THE GUARDIAN, October 2nd, 2000
After the driest summer in 20 years, Turkish officials are warning that they
cannot supply Syria with all the water it wants from the Euphrates and
Tigres rivers. The announcement will cause concern in
the Middle East, where water is one of the most sensitive strategic issues.
Under an informal agreement, Syria is supposed to receive 500 cubic metres
of water per second from the two rivers as they cross the border from
Turkey. This month, however, the average flow has been
only 160 cubic metres per second, and next month it could be even less.
The water levels in Turkish reservoirs have become dangerously low, and
Turkey is bracing for a winter of severe energy shortages. The head of the
state water authority, Dogan Altinbilek, has said that
the amount of water Turkey can send across the border will depend on
rainfall in the next few months.
Syria and Iraq, which is also downstream from Turkey, complain that Ankara's
ambitious programme of dam-building on the Euphrates and the Tigres is a
threat to their water supply. Turkey, however,
insists that the shortages have nothing to do with the dams, which officials
in Ankara say have improved the situation.
Syria would have received only about 50 cubic metres [per second] if there
had been no dams on the rivers,' Mr Altinbilek said.
Water has been a contentious issue between Turkey and its neighbours for
years. Sproadic talks on the issue have failed to reach any formal
agreement.
Turkey insists that there is more than enough water in the two rivers for
all three countries, but it claims both Syria and Iraq waste supplies
because of inefficient water management and poor
agricultural techniques. In turn, Damascus and Baghdad accuse Turkey of
trying to dictate terms.
The lack of an agreement on water sharing has been one of the main points
emphasised by opponents in Britain of the proposed Ilisu dam, which would be
one of the biggest dams in the region. The British government is still
considering whether to grant Balfour Beatty export credit guarantees worth
pounds 200m to build the dam on the Tigres, a few miles north of the Syrian
border. Current signs are that the plan has run into serious difficulties.
If the drought intensifies, Turkey's use of water on the two most important
rivers in the region will come under even closer scrutiny. Some strategic
analysts have predicted that water, rather than oil
or land, could be the spark which ignites a future war in the Middle East.
A court last week acquitted a Turkish journalist who had been charged with
insulting the military in her banned book on the Kurdish rebel war. The case
was seen as a test of Ankara's intentions to improve its poor human rights
record. Amnesty International called the verdict 'a step forward for freedom
of expression', but said the trial should 'never have taken place'. Nadire
Mater had faced up to 12 years in prison if convicted. Unless
the prosecutor appeals against Friday's verdict, the ban on Mehmet's Book,
which recounts the horrors and frustrations of recruits fighting Kurdish
rebels, will be lifted in seven days.
Muslims Set Political Goals at Irvine Rally More than 100 people at daylong
conference brainstorm ways to increase community's clout in U.S. system and
November elections.
>From LOS ANGELES TIMES, October 1st, 2000
Calling themselves a "sleeping giant," Muslims gathered Saturday in Irvine
to brainstorm ways to increase their clout in the U.S. political system and
the November elections.
A bipartisan slate of speakers--from Rep. Tom Campbell (R-San Jose) to
California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres--encouraged Muslims to
register to vote, volunteer on campaigns, donate money and forge personal
relationships with elected officials.
In the daylong conference, Muslims debated political strategies, including
organizing a bloc vote for the presidential election focused on California
and 13 other states with many Muslim residents.
"What we're hoping to accomplish is our full rights of citizenship," said
Agha Saeed, a UC Berkeley political science professor and head of American
Muslim Alliance, which sponsored the gathering.
The alliance is promoting the goal "2000 for 2000," aimed at finding 2,000
Muslim candidates to run for office this year.
In six years, Saeed has built the group into a national political
organization of 7,000 members, with 93 chapters in 31 states. He also helped
establish the American Muslim Political Coordinating Committee, an alliance
of four major Muslim organizations that expects to deliver the community's
first presidential endorsement two weeks before the election.
Although the size of the Muslim American community is not precisely known,
estimates range from 3 million to 10 million. Saeed said the number of
registered Muslim voters in California could number 400,000. In any case,
the growing political visibility of Muslim Americans is apparent.
In the past few years, Muslims have won elections at state and local levels.
They have been appointed ambassadors and representatives to national
commissions, state bodies and local boards. And they are beginning to join
the staffs of elected officials: About a dozen Muslim aides now work on
Capitol Hill, enough to start a Friday prayer service there.
For the first time, the Republican and Democratic national conventions this
year had Muslims giving benedictions. Muslims are now invited to celebrate
Ramadan and other Islamic holy days at the White House. And Muslims are
beginning to score impressive political victories.
The most prominent victory has been their fight to abolish the use of secret
evidence in deportation hearings, a little-known provision in federal
immigration law that has been used almost exclusively against people of Arab
and Muslim backgrounds. Earlier this week, the House Judiciary Committee
approved a measure to limit its use, by a vote of 26 to 2--a result one
Muslim leader called "beyond our wildest imagination." "When we first
started this, no one stood with us," said Sami Al-Arian, a professor at
University of Southern Florida. He told the crowd of more than 100 people
that the campaign against secret evidence took persistence and eventually
generated more than 55 supportive editorials and 200 positive articles in
U.S. newspapers that were instrumental in raising public awareness.
Campbell, delivering the keynote luncheon address, told the Muslim crowd
that such political victories could be replicated--such as fighting to end
sanctions on Iraq. Campbell, who is challenging Democrat Dianne Feinstein
for a Senate seat, urged Muslims to set up volunteer networks to support
candidates of both major parties in every congressional district.
Despite the gains, Muslims say they still have a long way to go. The
community has not yet produced any national elected officials, nor any
Muslims in key federal policymaking positions.
Saeed said his group managed to field only 700 candidates for office this
year, one-third the original goal--a result he blames on his group's own
skeleton staff and lack of follow-up.
Notwithstanding enthusiasm for a bloc vote, the community has not yet
demonstrated a united front encompassing its diverse members--from
American-born Muslims, largely of African ancestry, to immigrants from more
than 60 countries.
Maher Hathout and Salam Al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in
Los Angeles urged more active efforts to bridge the gap between immigrants
and American-born Muslims. That gap was apparent at the conference, where
few African Americans were present.
And some Muslims still believe it is haram, or forbidden, to become
politically involved in a system they view as corrupt and often harsh to
Muslim interests. But most Muslims said their "sleeping giant" is beginning
to wake up and can no longer be ignored.
Iram Amin came to the United States from Pakistan as an infant and is
studying psychology at Cal Poly Pomona. At 19, she already has volunteered
to work on two elections--one local, one congressional--because, she said,
"I think Muslims can make a difference." "The critical mass has been
achieved," Saeed said. "We are here to stay." PHOTO: Syed A. Ahasani, left,
speaks with Muzammil H. Siddiqi of Garden Grove at the American Muslim
Alliance Convention in Irvine.
Iraqi who attempted to hijack Jordanian plane acted alone
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) _ An Iraqi who made a halfhearted attempt to hijack a
Jordanian plane last week claiming that terrorists were behind the effort
had apparently acted alone, officials said Sunday.
Investigations under way since Thursday's foiled attempt showed that
Mohammad Yassin al-Humeidi, 38, ``might have made up the story to seek
asylum in Jordan,'' a government official told The Associated Press.
He said investigators have failed to establish that al-Humeidi was really
forced by terrorists to hijack the Amman-bound Royal Jordanian flight from
San`a, Yemen.
``During interrogation, al-Humeidi constantly changed his confession and
failed to identify the alleged terrorists whom he claims had hired him,''
the official said on customary condition of anonymity.
``But he insisted on asylum in Jordan,'' the official added.
Al-Humeidi surrendered to aircraft security shortly after he sent a note to
the captain asking for protection from unidentified terrorists he claimed
had assigned him to hijack the plane and kill the pilot.
He said in the note that he changed his mind because he ``didn't want to
harm Jordan and its reputation.'' He also claimed he had hand grenades
aboard the flight, but bomb experts later determined they were fake.
The Airbus A-310 with 119 passengers on board landed safely in Amman.
Security officials said al-Humeidi had worked for several months in Jordan
until he was asked to leave last month because he violated his residency
permit by overstaying and working in the kingdom. He returned to Iraq and
later left for Yemen, the officials added, insisting on anonymity.
Thursday's hijack attempt was the third involving Jordan in nearly three
months.
On July 5, security guards shot and killed a Syrian man who tossed a grenade
in a Royal Jordanian plane flying to Syria, wounding several people as he
attempted to divert the plane to Germany.
On Sept. 14, an Iraqi armed with a knife forced a Qatar Airways plane bound
for Amman to land in Saudi Arabia. He surrendered to Saudi police, saying he
was afraid Jordan would hand him over to Iraq.
Iran refuses Afghan plane to fly over its territory: Taliban
>From AP WORLDSTREAM, October 1st, 2000
By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ Iran refused
an Afghan aircraft carrying relief goods to Iraq permission to fly over its
territory because of United Nations' sanctions, said a Taliban foreign
ministry statement issued Sunday.
The Afghan aircraft also was carrying sportsmen to Iraq, said the foreign
ministry statement. There were no details about the kind of humanitarian aid
being donated by Afghanistan's hardline Islamic Taliban rulers. It's also
not clear when the aircraft was denied permission.
Russia's Vnukovo Airlines said eyeing aircraft sales to Iraq
>From BBC MONITORING
An official of Russia's Vnukovo Airlines has stated that the airline intends
to challenge Aeroflot for the Moscow-Baghdad route on the grounds that it
was part of Aeroflot when the latter was allocated the route in Soviet
times, according to the `Izvestiya' newspaper.
But another official of Vnukovo Airlines, which is part of the Russian
Aviation Consortium, has admitted that the company is far more interested in
a proposed deal to sell 10 Tu-204 aircraft to Baghdad. The following is the
text of the article by Aleksey Sinitskiy, published on 27th September under
the headline "Big politics in business":
The resumption of passenger flights to Iraq is becoming an increasingly
realistic prospect. On 25th September talks began in Moscow between Aeroflot
and Iraqi Airways. And the Vnukovo Airlines company sent an aircraft to Iraq
carrying humanitarian freight and made a number of high-profile statements.
Baghdad is plainly a lucrative prospect. Since the question of lifting
sanctions against Iraq is now coming to a head, the question of flights to
the country has also started to be aired. It can be said that the UN
sanctions did not impose any official restrictions on passenger flights: The
restrictions introduced in spring 1991 were intended to block the delivery
to Iraq by air of prohibited freight and prevent the Iraqis from gaining any
commercial benefit from air transport.
But the USA and Britain, followed by most other countries, interpret the UN
sanctions as a total ban on flights to Iraq (except for humanitarian freight
deliveries). The same position is adopted by the Russian Foreign Ministry,
so until the matter is resolved at political level there can be no question
of a resumption of regular flights.
Nonetheless talks began in Moscow on 25th September between the
Aeroflot-Russian Airlines company and Iraqi Airways. The talks will last
several days and Aeroflot is not providing any official information at the
moment. According to `Izvestiya''s information, the talks will probably be
about the technicalities of flights to Saddam Husayn Airport and the
servicing of aircraft (it is said that the question of the Aeroflot office's
resuming work in Baghdad has already been effectively resolved). Of course,
regular flights will also be discussed, but only as a future prospect at the
moment. As Aeroflot general director Valeriy Okulov told Interfax the other
day, "if flights are to start there are three essential conditions - absence
of bans, commercial expediency, and technical feasibility".
Aeroflot's plans to resume regular flights are based on the fact that this
company is the designated carrier on the Moscow-Baghdad route. But Vnukovo
Airlines also announced recently that it would like to operate on that route
- although the airline's top management, General Director Aleksandr
Krasnenker and his first deputy, Aleksandr Klimov, do not have much to say
on the subject of flights to Iraq. But Andrey Okhotkin, general director of
Vnukovo Airlines-Trading House (a Vnukovo Airlines subsidiary) recently said
that the company has the same rights as Aeroflot to fly to Baghdad, since
Aeroflot acquired the status of official carrier to Iraq back in the Soviet
era, when Vnukovo Airlines was part of it. By that same logic, Aeroflot
could now easily lay claim to all of Vnukovo Airlines' aircraft, since the
company acquired them while it was still part of Soviet Aeroflot.
So it is doubtful whether Vnukovo Airlines will be able to get regular
flights to Iraq. Actually, according to Sergey Isakov, deputy head of the
Vnukovo Airlines council of directors, what attracts the company is not so
much flights to Iraq as the opportunity to sell aircraft to Iraq. Vnukovo
Airlines is part of the Russian Aviation Consortium, which has a
"precontract agreement" with Iraq on the sale of 10 Tu-204 aircraft once
sanctions have been lifted. Moreover Isakov explained that the "resumption
of flights to Baghdad is no big thing for us, even if we fly there daily. It
would not make big money. The purchase of 10 aircraft is another matter.
Now that is business of a different kind and that's where the politics comes
in."
Iraqi military spokesman details US, UK air activity of 30th September
Text of report by Iraqi TV on 30th September
A spokesman for the Air Defence Command said in a statement to the Iraqi
News Agency: At 1045 [0645 gmt] today, 30th September, 17 formations of the
US and British ravens carried out 38 combat sorties from the Saudi airspace
and eight combat sorties from the Kuwaiti airspace, backed by an AWACS plane
from the Saudi airspace and an A-2 C plane from the Kuwait airspace. They
flew over areas in the governorates of Al-Basra, Dhi Qar, Al-Muthanna,
Maysan, Maysan, Al-Najaf, and Al-Qadisiayh.
Ethiopia reportedly buying arms, military equipment from Iraq
>From BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS, October 1st, 2000
Sources from the Ministry of Defence have said Ethiopia has not yet stopped
purchasing arms and other military equipment. They also say officers from
the Airborne Training Camp, which is being reestablished at the Ministry of
Defence HQ, have left for Iraq and Yemen.
Although the aim of the mission to Yemen was not revealed, the mission to
Iraq lasted for over three days and its aim is said to buy parachutes and
sewing machines that will enable the production of the parachutes locally.
It is believed that now only about ten parachutes remain of the over 10,000
D10 parachutes purchased from the [former] Soviet Union...
[Passage omitted: details of the parachutes in the country].
Although it is yet uncertain what exactly the mission to Iraq has come back
with, reliable sources have confirmed that the mission was to purchase arms
from Iraq. It is also uncertain whether the arms were Iraqi products or
Russian products channelled through Iraq.
However, observers say the military equipment was from Russia, which was
then channelled to Ethiopia through Iraq.
Al-Qadhafi expected in Egypt on 2nd October to discuss Iraq with Mubarak
Text of report by Egyptian news agency MENA
Cairo, 1st October: Abd-al-Salam al-Turayki, Secretary of the Libyan
People's Committee for African Unity, has announced that the summit meeting
to be held tomorrow, Monday [2nd October) by Egyptian
President Husni Mubarak and Col Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, leader of the Libyan
revolution, will discuss ways of lifting the siege on fraternal Iraq.
Al-Turayki arrived in Cairo today, Sunday, leading an advance group of the
delegation that will accompany Colonel Al-Qadhafi on his visit tomorrow.
Al-Turayki said that this meeting comes in the context of the ongoing
consultation between the two leaders over Arab, African and bilateral issues
and also international affairs in
general.
Al-Turayki declined to answer a question about whether Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi
will visit Iraq during his current tour of a number of Arab countries.
Date of Moroccan flight postponed to 3rd October for technical reasons
Text of report by Iraqi news agency INA web site Rabat, 1st October: It has
been announced in Rabat that the date of the departure of the Moroccan plane
that was scheduled to leave for Baghdad last night has been postponed till
Tuesday [3rd October].
The plane was scheduled to carry representatives of Moroccan political
parties, trade unions and mass media.
Mohamed Akhsassi, head of the National Moroccan Committee for supporting
Iraq, who is leading this delegation, told an INA correspondent in Rabat
that the postponement was for technical reasons, as the delegation could not
obtain an insurance because of the weekend, resulting in a delay in the
departure.
The committee had issued a statement in which it said that this initiative
was a living example of Morocco's solidarity with fraternal Iraq and a
militant action to break the unjust blockade imposed on Iraq. It is also
part of the international efforts aiming at ending this blockade, the
statement said.
Another Russian plane to arrive in Iraq today
September 30th, 2000
Another Russian airliner will land in Iraq on Saturday, the Russian news
agency ITAR-TASS reported from Kuwait.
This will be the fourth Russian plane to land at Baghdad's Saddam
International Airport since it was opened on 17th August.
Iraq's Ministry of Culture and Information said the plane would be carrying
a delegation of Russian oilmen.
The agency did not say where the plane was flying from.
Paris-Baghdad sanctions-busting flight cancelled
PARIS, Sept 29 (AFP) - A flight from Paris to Baghdad planned for Friday,
which was intended as a symbolic protest against UN sanctions on Iraq, has
been cancelled, one of its organisers said.
"The plane cannot take off," said Father Yves Buannic.
He condemned the "cowardice of the French government and the responsibility
of the Belgian authorities in the failure of our humanitarian operation
which
was to have expressed our solidarity with the Iraqi people against one of
the
biggest injustices of this century."
The organisers were unable to reach agreement with Belgian company
Bruxelles International for the charter of the aircraft, which was to have
taken about 100 European personalities - including Mariam Appeal founder
George Galloway - to Baghdad.
Iran sentences seven Iraqi pro-Baath terrorists to death
TEHRAN, Sept 29 (AFP) - Seven members of a "terrorist network" in Iran
"sponsored by the Iraqi Baath party" have been sentenced to death,
Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said, cited by the official IRNA news
agency late Thursday.
"Twelve people belonging to a vast terrorist group were arrested recently,
and seven of them have been sentenced to death. Strong documents and proof
exist in this relation," IRNA reported Yunesi as saying Thursday.
Announcing the arrests earlier Thursday, Yunesi said the group was planning
bomb attacks against "all" foreign embassies as well as military bases,
top-level military personnel, intelligence offices, oil installations and
newspaper offices.
He said that in addition to the 12, other members of the network are "abroad
but have been identified."
He also said the "terrorists" had "separatist plans," an expression usually
used to refer to the desire for independence of certain members of the Arab
minority of Khuzestan, an oil-rich region on the border with Iraq.
For the first time for several months, Tehran is directing its accusations
at people "in the pay of the Baath party" in power in Baghdad, rather than
the
Baghdad-based Iranian armed opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen, which
it holds responsible for nearly all attacks over the past year.
The presence of opposition movements in each other's country represent one
of the main obstacles to the normalisation of relations between Iran and
Iraq
who went to war between 1980 and 1988.
MISCELLANY++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
