IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 134
Monday October 9, 2000
LATEST NEWS+++++++++++++++LATEST
Iraq's central bank ditches dollars
Iraq's central bank has begun to buy European currencies, following
Baghdad's decision to stop using the dollar, the INA
agency reported.
The central bank said in a statement Sunday that it was "disposed to buying
European currencies against their equivalent in American dollars".
The statement said that "the currencies which will be bought are the French
franc, the German mark, the Austrian schilling, the pound sterling, the
Dutch florin and the Italian lira".
Baghdad, accuses Washington of maintaining the crippling sanctions regime
imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Last month Iraqi Finance Minister Hekmat Ibrahim al-Azzawi announced the
decision to ditch the dollar in foreign trade transactions.
"The dollar is the currency of an enemy state, and must be abandoned for
other currencies, including the euro," Azzawi said.
Azzawi urged other countries to snub the dollar, saying the United States
was employing an "imperialist" economic policy in league with "Zionists" to
weaken the economies of other countries in the world.
Iraq will work, in the framework of the Arab League, to "push through a
similar Arab measure because it is in the interest of Arabs to renounce the
currency of a country hostile to them," he vowed.
Iraq's cabinet, chaired by President Saddam Hussein, commissioned a team of
economists on September 14 to prepare a study on the possibility of using
the euro or any other currency in Iraq's trade instead of the dollar.
"The use of the dollar is one of the symbols of the influence and force of
our enemy," the cabinet said, adding it was the "job of Iraq to combat the
enemy in all fields possible."
Saudi waiting for Iraq to agree to open border: minister
RIYADH, Oct 9 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia is waiting for Iraq to agree to open a
border crossing between the two countries to facilitate trade, according to
Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.
The comment came late Saturday after Riyadh asked the United Nations to look
into the possibility of opening a border post, which has been shut since
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, to allow humanitarian goods through.
The request was passed on Thursday to the UN Sanctions Committee.
"In the end the decision rests with Iraq," the prince told reporters.
"We have no objection to Saudi companies doing business (with Iraq) in line
with Security Council resolutions," he said.
In June press reports said the kingdom was considering reopening the desert
crossing at Ar'Ar to allow through Saudi goods purchased by Iraq under the
UN oil-for-food deal.
It allows Iraq to export crude oil under strict UN supervision and to use
the proceeds to purchase essential goods. High oil prices have seen Iraq's
earnings soar.
Since June, Baghdad has sold 220 million barrel of crude for more than 5.5
billion dollars.
Iraq bitterly accuses Saudi Arabia and Kuwait of working with the United
States and Britain to keep in place the sanctions imposed after it invaded
Kuwait in 1990.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait allow US and British warplanes to fly from their
bases to monitor the Baghdad regime, leading to frequent bombings of Iraq.
Iraq has three land crossings to the outside world through Jordan, Turkey
and Syria as well as a sea link to Dubai through the Gulf.
The Ar'Ar border post is reopened only once a year to enable Muslims to
travel to Mecca for the annual Haj pilgrimage.
Iraqi oil output falls
NICOSIA, Oct 9 (AFP) - Iraq's oil production dropped 190,000 barrels to 2.81
million barrels per day (bpd) in September due to sales problems, the Middle
East Economic Survey reported Monday.
Crude exports under the UN oil-for-food programme accounted for 2.21 million
bpd while domestic consumption and cross border trade with Turkey, Jordan,
Syria and Iran was estimated at 600,000 bpd, the specialist newsletter said.
The survey said the production fall was mainly due to problems with sales
of Kirkuk oil because of market difficulties.
UN officials have said there was no indication that Iraq had deliberately
reduced the level of its exports in September.
Some Iraqi crude is very similar in quality to oil exported from the
Caucasus, they said, and small differences in the price could lead
purchasers
to buy large volumes from one or other source.
Iraq, which is battling to boost production and maximise revenue for the
sanctions-hit state, produced three million bpd in August.
The United States voiced fears during September as oil prices rocketed that
President Saddam Hussein could cause short-term disruptions in international
energy markets by halting oil production for a limited time.
Iraq exports crude under the UN oil-for-food programme set up in December
1996 to enable Baghdad to import essential supplies to ease the impact of
the sanctions imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990.
With the second largest oil reserves in the world after Saudi Arabia,
Baghdad has set a production target of six million bpd, but that requires
massive investment to renovate decaying infrastructure and cannot happen
until sanctions are lifted.
Iraq calls up volunteers to fight against Israel
BAGHDAD, Oct 9 (AFP) - Iraq is mobilising volunteers for "the jihad (holy
war) in Palestine" and giving five million euros (4.35 million dollars)
towards the uprising against Israel, the official press proclaimed Monday.
The decisions were reached at a top-level meeting chaired by President
Saddam Hussein "to support the valiant intifada and the Palestinian
mujahedeen to pursue their heroic fight on the road to liberating
Palestine".
"Camps will be opened to complete the military training of volunteers for
the jihad." The defence ministry would give priority to those who have
already
undergone army training.
Millions of Iraqis have been put through basic training in recent years in
response to rallying cries against the United States and Britain, which bomb
Iraq frequently as part of a containment policy following the 1991 Gulf War.
The five million euros would go to families of those killed in the clashes
and towards the uprising. Iraq would also send medical aid and doctors to
the
Palestinian territories and treat the wounded in Iraq.
Fighting between Palestinians and Israelis have left more than 90 people
dead.
Iraq, which opposes the Middle East peace process, will consider the
Palestinian dead -- the vast majority of the toll -- as "martyrs of the
Mother of All Battles", the name Baghdad gives to the Gulf War.
Turkish plane joins flood of flights into Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Oct 9 (AFP) - An aircraft from Istanbul carrying doctors among a
Turkish delegation landed at the Iraqi capital on Monday in the latest
initiative against a decade-old UN air embargo, an AFP journalist reported.
The Arkas air flight was to be followed by a second Turkish aircraft on
Tuesday, an official Turkish source in Baghdad said.
An official of the firm chartering the plane, SETA, was quoted by Anatolia
news agency as saying that it was carrying a surgeon, medicines and baby
food.
"This flight is purely humanitarian," he said.
A humanitarian flight from Egypt is expected to land at Saddam International
Airport on Wednesday, an Iraqi official said.
Lebanon has announced plans to send a plane to Baghdad next week.
On Sunday, a Syrian minister led a delegation off the first flight from
Damascus to Baghdad in 20 years. It brought food, medicine and doctors.
The initiative followed a call by President Bashar al-Assad for Arab
countries to work for a lifting of UN sanctions on Iraq, imposed after its
1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Despite a break in diplomatic ties in 1980 over Syria's backing for Iran in
its war with Iraq, Damascus and Baghdad have been slowly normalizing ties
since 1997, focusing on trade.
Six other Arab countries -- Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, the United
Arab Emirates and Yemen -- have sent planes into Iraq since September 27 and
Lebanon plans to follow suit, following flights from Russia and France.
Paris and Moscow say the air embargo on Iraq as part of the sanctions regime
does not cover private non-commercial flights, while Washington and London
insist all flights must be approved by the UN sanctions committee.
Turkey, meanwhile, has threatened not to renew a mandate for US planes using
a Turkish base to patrol northern Iraq if the US Congress passes a bill
declaring the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against Turkey's Armenian
population in 1915.
First Syrian plane in more than 18 years lands in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ A Syrian Airbus-320 plane with senior government
officials and humanitarian assistance on board landed at Baghdad's Saddam
International Airport on Sunday.
``We are Arabs... and we are here to show our support to our brothers in
Iraq,'' said Syrian Cabinet Minister Mohammed Mufdhi Sevo, who led the
delegation which included doctors, nurses and representatives of unions and
the media.
The plane also carried 10 tons of medical and humanitarian supplies. It was
received by Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh and Transportation and
Communications Minister Ahmed Murtada Ahmed.
The flight is believed to have received clearance from the United Nations.
It comes two weeks after France and Russia first challenged the 10-year old
sanctions by flying planes to Baghdad without authorization from the U.N.
sanctions committee.
Since then there have also been flights from Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia,
Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria, all of which had received
approval. Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish groups have also announced plans to
send planes to Baghdad in coming days.
The flight is also a sign that relations between Iraq and Syria, ruled by
rival factions of the Arab nationalist Baath Party, are continuing to thaw.
Last week, Syria called for an end to U.N.sanctions against Iraq and trade
and transportation links between the two states have recently been
increased.
Relations between the two countries began improving in 1997 after a 17-year
break in diplomatic ties during which Syria sided with non-Arab Iran against
Iraq in their 1980-88 war and fought with the U.S.-led coalition forces
against Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War to liberate Kuwait.
Iraq's state-controlled newspapers have celebrated the flights as a sign
that the sanctions' regime is crumbling, but U.N.sanctions committee
chairman, Dutch ambassador to the United Nations Peter van Walsum, has said
Baghdad would be making a ``tragic mistake'' if it thought that sanctions
would disappear without allowing weapons inspections to resume.
The embargo, imposed in 1990 to punish Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait, can
only be lifted after Iraq proves that it has destroyed all of its weapons of
mass destruction and the capability to manufacture them. Baghdad says it has
complied, but refuses to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors.
Iraq willing to do business with Kuwaiti companies
BAGHDAD, Oct 8 (AFP) - Iraq is willing to sign contracts with Kuwaiti
companies as part of the UN-sponsored program that lets Iraq sell oil to
purchase basic necessities, Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh said
Monday.
"We affirm that we have no reservations about commercial transactions with
Kuwaiti companies, if they asked to supply goods to Iraq as part of the
'oil-for-food' program," Saleh told the Iraqi parliament.
Iraq has commercial ties with most Arab countries, which account for 45
percent of Iraq's trade, he said.
"This shows Iraq puts the priority on its brother Arab countries," Saleh
said, as cited by the official Iraqi News Agency.
On Friday, a Baghdad football (Am: soccer) official said the Iraqi team was
ready to play the Kuwaiti team in the Asian Cup later this month in Lebanon.
Kuwait has repeatedly rejected any normalization of relations with Iraq,
which invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
Saddam Chairs Meeting on Palestine Issue
BAGHDAD (Oct. 8) XINHUA - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Sunday convened
his right-hand men for a meeting on the recent violent clashes between
Palestinians and Israeli forces.
Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council,
Iraq's highest power organization, Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and
Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al-Sahaf attended the meeting, the official
Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
The meeting discussed the Palestine issue and the threats posed to Syria,
Lebanon and the Palestinian people by Israel, the INA said, without giving
any detail.
Iraq in recent days has repeatedly condemned Israel for its brutality
against the Palestinians, and has called for a Muslim holy war for the
"liberation of Palestine" following the bloody clashes in the Palestinian
territories and Israel.
At least four large-scale demonstrations have been held in Baghdad to
protest against the "Israeli crimes" against the Palestinians.
The wave of clashes, the worst in four years, have left over 90 people,
mostly Palestinians, dead and more than 2,000 injured.
The United States, a major ally of Israel, has kept a close eye on Iraq,
which has been under a crippling U.N. sanctions since its 1990 invasion of
Kuwait.
In a televised interview on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright warned Iraq not to threaten its neighbors or its own people.
Paul Mikolashek, commander of the Third U.S. Army and U.S. Armed Forces
Central Command, stressed on September 20 that all necessary military
precautions have been taken to foil any new Iraqi threat to the security of
Kuwait and the region.
Saddam Chairs Meeting on Palestine Issue
BAGHDAD (Oct. 8) XINHUA - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Sunday convened
his right-hand men for a meeting on the recent violent clashes between
Palestinians and Israeli forces.
Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council,
Iraq's highest power organization, Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and
Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al-Sahaf attended the meeting, the official
Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
The meeting discussed the Palestine issue and the threats posed to Syria,
Lebanon and the Palestinian people by Israel, the INA said, without giving
any detail.
Iraq in recent days has repeatedly condemned Israel for its brutality
against the Palestinians, and has called for a Muslim holy war for the
"liberation of Palestine" following the bloody clashes in the Palestinian
territories and Israel.
At least four large-scale demonstrations have been held in Baghdad to
protest against the "Israeli crimes" against the Palestinians.
The wave of clashes, the worst in four years, have left over 90 people,
mostly Palestinians, dead and more than 2,000 injured.
The United States, a major ally of Israel, has kept a close eye on Iraq,
which has been under a crippling U.N. sanctions since its 1990 invasion of
Kuwait.
In a televised interview on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright warned Iraq not to threaten its neighbors or its own people.
Paul Mikolashek, commander of the Third U.S. Army and U.S. Armed Forces
Central Command, stressed on September 20 that all necessary military
precautions have been taken to foil any new Iraqi threat to the security of
Kuwait and the region.
Row erupts over Anglo-Arab trade chief who poses as Iraqi diplomat
>From THE EXPRESS ON SUNDAY, October 8th, 2000
An Iraqi businessman who controls the flow of trade between British
companies and the Middle East has been posing as a diplomat for the last
three years with the full knowledge of the Foreign Office.
Abdul Karim Al-Mudaris is secretary general and chief executive of the Joint
Arab-British Chamber of Commerce, which promotes trade between Britain and
the Arab world. The JABCC, whose chairman is former Tory cabinet minister
and ex-GEC chairman Lord Prior, issues and processes the commercial
documents needed by British companies to make exports to the Middle East.
Yet despite concerns over the legitimacy of his status in the UK and a lack
of support from some members of the JABCC, Al-Mudaris'
contract has just been renewed for a further three years.
Al-Mudaris has been living as an Iraqi diplomat in London for the last 20
years but the Foreign Office told him in December 1997 that he no longer
qualified for diplomatic status and must return his passport for
clarification of his status in the UK.
There is only one Iraqi diplomat in the UK, operating out of an Iraqi
special interest section in the Jordanian Embassy, where
Al-Mudaris was accredited to until 1997. But three years later, Al-Mudaris,
who draws a salary of GBP220,000 from the JABCC, is
still ignoring the Foreign Office's repeated requests to surrender his
passport and diplomatic number plates while continuing to enjoy diplomatic
privileges. These include exemption from tax as well as immunity from
prosecution under British law.
The Foreign Office said no steps had been taken to forcibly retrieve the
passport because it had limited enforcement powers. A spokesman said: "This
is a highly delicate and sensitive matter which we have
taken up a number of times with Mr Al-Mudaris since 1997 and one we want to
resolve speedily."
Meanwhile Al-Mudaris continues to travel throughout the world on business.
According to Home Office regulations, if he was stopped on entry to the UK
using an invalid passport he could be deported back to Iraq.
Unusually, the recent decision to reappoint Al-Mudaris as chief executive of
the JABCC was taken without consultation with its board and in the face of
opposition from the Syrian government and the chamber's Arab ambassadors in
London.
According to Prior, the decision to reappoint Al-Mudaris, who suffered a
stroke earlier this year, was taken by the Union of Arab Chambers of
Commerce, an international affiliation of similar organisations that plays
no role in the running of the JABCC.
Prior said: "This was not a matter for the board or for the Arab
ambassadors."
Prior, who receives almost GBP100,000 a year for his part-time position at
the JABCC, is lobbying for Al-Mudaris to be granted diplomatic status. He
accuses the Foreign Office of "behaving in a most extraordinary manner". He
added: "I am fully aware of all the circumstances surrounding this issue,
which is still the source of consultation with the Foreign Office."
The Foreign Office insisted the JABCC was a commercial organisation, not a
diplomatic mission, and that it would not change its decision on Al-Mudaris'
rights to diplomatic status. There is also confusion about Al-Mudaris' age.
Documents at Companies House list his age as 68. One passport application
confirms this, but an older passport application states he was born five
years earlier.Al-Mudaris refused to discuss his position but insisted he was
a mere 68 years old: "This is a personal thing between me and the Foreign
Office. It's a misunderstanding. You can think I'm 80 or 90, I don't care.
That's up to you."
Russian foreign minister says it's time to lift sanctions on Iraq
Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Algiers, 8th
October:
Time has come to lift sanctions on Iraq in order to ease off suffering of
the Iraqi people, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said at the final
news conference of his Algerian visit on Sunday [8th October].
Moscow concentrates on the lifting of sanctions, on one hand, and
implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions, on the other hand, he
remarked.
As for possible changes in the activity of the United Nations, the minister
said that the UN reform has ripened. Consultations are under way, he noted.
Central Bank ready to exchange US dollar for European currencies
Text of report by Iraqi radio on 8th October The Central Bank of Iraq has
expressed its readiness to buy European currencies and pay their equivalents
in the US dollar according to the official closing exchange rates registered
the day before without obtaining any commission.
In a statement issued today, the Central Bank added that it will issue a
daily bulletin including the exchange rates of these currencies. It also
authorized banks to buy these currencies for their own use.
The statement indicated that the European currencies that will be bought are
the following: The French franc, the German mark, the Austrian schilling,
the pound Sterling, the Dutch guilder, the Italian lira , and the Swiss
franc.
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