IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 147
Tuesday, October 31, 2000
LATEST NEWS+++++LATEST
LAUNCH OF THE BIG BEN TO BAGHDAD BUS FILM
The Arab Club of Britain announces the premiere showing of the film "Big Ben
to Baghdad". The Epic journey through three continents, ten countries and
15,000 miles from London to Baghdad in an antique double-decker London
Routemaster bus. The Mariam Appeal chairman George Galloway MP will be
joined by the veteran politician Tony Benn MP and Sabah Al-Mukhtar,
President of the Arab Lawyers Association for debate following the film.
The film will be shown at the Brunei Theater at the School of Oriental and
African Studies SOAS, London at 630 p.m. on Thursday, 16th November, 2000.
Nearest Tube station is Russell Square, London WC1
Admission free but donations are welcome
FOLLOWING THE PREMIERE, VHS COPIES OF THE 60-MINUTE FILM WILL BE AVAILABLE
AT THE SPECIAL PRICE OF �9.99
Iraq says will wait until Nov 6 before pricing oil exports in euros -
sources
WASHINGTON (AFX) - Iraq has told the UN's sanctions committee that it will
wait until Nov 6 before starting to price its crude oil exports in euros
instead of U.S. dollars, according to diplomatic sources.
Iraq had previously asked the UN to make the necessary banking arrangements
-- which it oversees under the Iraq oil-for-food program -- for switching
currencies by Nov 1.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has threatened to cut off Iraqi oil exports
if the currency demands are not met, but analysts who spoke to AFX News
voiced doubts that Iraq would cut off its oil exports.
"If Iraq actually pulls out its oil exports, I would expect crude oil prices
to top 40.0 usd a barrel in a very short period of time, but that's a very
big 'if' because I don't believe that Saddam Hussein is really interested in
doing that," said Fadel Gheit, an oil market analyst with Fahnestock & Co,
in New York.
Members of the UN sanctions committee, including the U.S., have indicated
that they had no objection in principle to the change, but that it could
cost some 270 mln usd annually in conversion costs and lost interest on the
dollar account in which Iraq's oil revenues are held by the UN.
The New York Mercantile Exchange December light sweet crude oil futures
contract closed at 32.81 usd a barrel, up 7 cents compared with Friday's
close.
U.N. to Approve Iraq's Plan for Oil Payments in Euros
>From DOW JONES BUSINESS NEWS, October 31st, 2000
UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations agreed Monday to authorize
Iraq's plan to establish a euro-based account for its oil revenues,
removing fears that Iraq would suspend its exports of 2.3 million
barrels a day of oil.
The Security Council Committee on Sanctions Against Iraq agreed to
allow buyers of Iraqi crude to start paying in euros instead of
dollars, beginning next week, under a plan proposed by Iraq earlier
this month.
The Sanctions Committee will send a letter to the UN Secretariat on
Tuesday, asking it to arrange for the establishment of a euro-based
account, western diplomats said.
Iraq earlier extended its deadline for establishing a euro-based
account for its oil revenue until Nov. 6 to allow the United Nations
to hammer out details of the plan.
Iraq told its oil customers several weeks ago to start making
payments in euros instead of dollars beginning Nov. 1, and
threatened to halt its exports of about 2.3 million barrels a day of
crude oil if the U.N. didn't approve its request.
The Iraqi response came after the U.N. Treasury, which conducted a
study of the Iraqi proposal, asked Baghdad on Friday to postpone its
request to establish a euro account to allow the U.N. Secretariat
time to resolve the issue.
The U.N. Treasury found that Iraqi plan would cost the oil-for-food
program millions of dollars stemming from currency conversion,
hedging and lost interest earnings. Iraq would have to reduce the
price of its oil by about 10 cents a barrel to compensate buyers for
the additional costs, a U.N. report said.
Iraq disputed those findings, saying the matter is "not so
complicated," according to a Western diplomat.
Gun dealer paid pounds 1.4m for false conviction
>From THE GUARDIAN, October 31st, 2000
By RICHARD NORTON-TAYLOR
An arms dealer whose conviction for selling machine guns to Iraq was
quashed after evidence emerged that senior Foreign Office and
customs officials had interfered in his trial has been awarded more
than pounds 1m in compensation.
Alexander Schlesinger, sales consultant to Atlantic Commercial,
based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, has been awarded pounds 1.375m plus
costs under the Home Office compensation scheme for miscarriages of justice.
The sum was agreed by Jack Straw, the home secretary, on the advice
of an independent assessor who took into account the seniority of
diplomats and customs officers whose conduct was described by Sir
Richard Scott, chairman of the arms-to-Iraq inquiry, as disgraceful.
The claim is the latest in a series made by individuals and
companies whose wrongful convictions for selling weapons to Iraq have
already cost taxpayers more than pounds 4m. The final total is likely to be
far higher.
Mr Schlesinger was fined pounds 3,000 in 1985 for his part in the
sale of 200 Sterling submachine guns to Iraq via Jordan. With
Reginald Dunk, director of Atlantic Commercial, he pleaded guilty
after diplomats at the Jordanian and Iraqi embassies in London
reneged on their promises to appear as witnesses for the defence.
The diplomats had said the guns were a gift from Iraq to Jordan.
Documents released to the Scott inquiry revealed that, at the behest of
customs, senior British diplomats agreed to have 'friendly words' with the
Iraqi and Jordanian ambassadors. One document said: 'I
confess to innocent reluctance to connive at impeding the course of
justice!'
In 1994 Lord Taylor, then lord chief justice, said what he called
the 'machinations' in the case 'to prevent witnesses for the defence
being available, coupled with the non-disclosure of what had been
done, constituted such an interference with the justice process as to amount
to an abuse of it'.
Last year Mr Dunk, who has since died, was awarded pounds 2.15m in
compensation for miscarriage of justice, loss of business - his
company collapsed - and personal distress.
Mr Schlesinger and Mr Dunk also received pounds 125,000 in an
unprecedented settlement arising from the conduct of two senior
diplomats, Cartsen Pigott and Patrick Nixon, in the arms case.
The dealers accused them of 'abuse of public office'. It was the
first compensation where damages were recovered from a government
department criticised in the Scott report. The FO maintained the
payment was 'without any admission of liability'.
Mr Schlesinger, 58, said last night: 'I am relieved that after 17
years of fighting to clear my name and to obtain compensation, this
is finally all over.' If it had not been for Sir Richard Scott and
the late Lord Taylor, 'the wrongful conviction would not have been
quashed', he said.
'My business and personal life has been destroyed and I have been
denied the opportunity of a fair trial and the chance to clear my
name.'
His lawyer, Lawrence Kormornick, said: ' This was a serious case
about human rights, the rule of law and government accountability.'
He regretted that neither customs nor the FO had apologised. Mr Kormornick
is now seeking compensation for Paul Henderson and
Peter Allen, former directors of Matrix Churchill machine tools
company, whose arms-to-Iraq trial collapsed after evidence emerged
that the then Conservative government had turned a blind eye to the sale of
arms-related equipment to Saddam Hussein in the 1980s.
Mr Kormornick is also claiming compensation for Ali Daghir, director of
Euromac, who was convicted in 1991 for supplying 'nuclear capacitors' -
equipment used to store and release energy - to Iraq.
His conviction was quashed after the appeal court ruled that the
trial judge had misdirected the jury. Paul Grecian, director of Ordtec, a
military engineering company, is seeking compensation after his conviction
for trying to sell equipment to Iraq was quashed. The appeal court found
that crucial
documents were not passed to the defence.
The total bill for miscarriages of justice arising out of arms-to-Iraq
scandals could amount to pounds 30m, including legal and court costs, Mr
Kormornick said yesterday.
Iraq ready to send airliners through no-fly zones
>From THE GUARDIAN, October 31st, 2000
By BRIAN WHITAKER
Iraq opened another crack in the sanctions regime yesterday by
announcing the resumption of commercial flights inside the western imposed
no-fly zones on November 5.
The transport minister, Ahmed Khalil, said domestic services would operate
between Baghdad and Basra, 375 miles to the south, and
Mosul, 270 miles to the north. Both destinations lie in the no-fly
zones.
The US and Britain imposed the no-fly zones in 1991 to protect Kurds
in the north and Shia Muslims in the south from possible attack by
Iraqi forces.
Since then both countries have led Iraq to believe that the ban on
flights extended to civilian as well as military aircraft. But
yesterday a Foreign Office spokesman said the Iraqi announcement 'doesn't
present a problem, because the no-fly zones don't apply to civilian
flights".
As recently as last month western diplomatic sources continued to
maintain that civilian flights would be an infringement of the
zones.
The reinterpretation of the no-fly rules follows a study of the
legal position commissioned by Iraq five months ago. Last night an Iraqi
official told the Guardian: 'When we checked it through lawyers, we found
out that there wasn't any prohibition on civilian flights in the areas."
Officially, the zones are said to be 'derived" from UN security
council resolution 688 - which does not actually mention them -
though 'humanitarian necessity" is also cited as a justification.
Iraq is planning to use Ilyushin aircraft for the internal flights.
Before the Gulf war, Iraqi Airways flew 15 Boeing airliners of
various types and 22 Ilyushin-76s.
Most of the aircraft were flown abroad for protection, hours before
the war began on January 17 1991.
Baghdad has repeatedly asked the UN sanctions committee on Iraq to
allow them to be returned. Six of the Boeings are said to be in
Amman and four in Tunis. Another five are thought to be in Tehran,
together with a number of Ilyushins. Special report on Iraq on the Guardian
network www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/ iraq
Russian Duma Speaker supports regular civilian Moscow-Baghdad flights
Text of report by Iraqi radio on 30th October
Russian Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov has voiced support for
operating regular civilian flights between Moscow and Baghdad.
In a meeting with the Iraqi ambassador to the Russian
Federation, he asserted the Duma's unwavering call for a speedy
lifting of the embargo on Iraq. He said that a Duma delegation
intends to fly to Baghdad tomorrow, Tuesday. The meeting dealt
with the situation in Arab world and the Palestine question.
Flights to Iraq Carry a Message to U.N. Sanctions: As more nations challenge
embargo imposed after Kuwait invasion, even the U.S. is rethinking its
stance.
>From LOS ANGELES TIMES, October 30th, 2000
After a decade-long U.N. embargo on air travel to Iraq, the Saddam
International Airport has started to bustle again, with planes carrying few
passengers but packed with political significance.
On Sunday, a Palestinian Airlines flight became the 36th of a new breed of
arrival to touch down in Baghdad since a Russian Yak-42 carrying oil
executives first challenged the embargo in August. The flurry of flights
from European and Arab nations has followed to show support for the Iraqi
people, who these nations say have been unfairly hurt by the economic
sanctions imposed by the U.N. after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
"It is the beginning of the collapse of sanctions," Iraqi Deputy Prime
Minister Tarik Aziz told reporters in Baghdad after a few aircraft had
landed in the capital last month. "People all over the world are saying,
'Enough is enough.' " The challenges have grown increasingly brazen and
bizarre. While some nations initially exploited a gray area of the sanctions
by notifying the U.N. that they would be sending humanitarian delegations,
groups such as the Palestine National Council are simply showing up in
solidarity. And rather than bringing aid, Sunday's Palestinian flight landed
with a number of Palestinians wounded in clashes with Israeli forces and
took off again with five tons of medical supplies donated by President
Saddam Hussein--the very provisions the Iraqi regime says its people are
struggling without.
France and Russia were the first countries to test the boundaries of the
sanctions. Both are veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council who
have long argued that broad sanctions are hurting Iraq's people, not the
regime. And the effort has gotten off the ground at a time when looming
national elections and high oil prices have made the U.S., Iraq's staunchest
foe, reluctant to confront Baghdad.
While the ban on flights has been only a small part of sweeping sanctions
intended to isolate Iraq until Baghdad proves it has stopped making weapons
of mass destruction, the show of solidarity to defy it may hasten changes to
the sanctions, diplomats say. Even the hard-line U.S. is quietly moving
toward what have become known as "smarter sanctions," in a more pragmatic
approach to forcing change on the regime it once led a war against.
With the notable exception of Yugoslavia, the U.S. experience in Iraq and
elsewhere has provided evidence that broad, untargeted sanctions may be too
blunt an instrument to compel change. A case-by-case study of sanctions
released by the U.N. in April found that such restrictions are often ignored
but that when they do strike home, it is often innocents who are hurt, not
the rogue regimes the sanctions are aimed at.
"We don't have a grand policy decision reorienting sanctions," said James
Cunningham, who handles the Iraq issue for the U.S. mission at the United
Nations. "But in general, we agree with the other members. We want to make
sanctions as effective and targeted as possible." The opportunity to do that
may come in December, when Resolution 1284--which mandated the sanctions--is
up for its annual review. The time will be ripe politically for the outgoing
Clinton administration to quietly explore different ways to compel change.
The Security Council will have heard the recommendations of a U.N. panel due
to report in late November on how to improve the effectiveness of sanctions
while sparing civilians. That may mean tightening clamps on Iraqi leaders'
air travel and bank accounts.
Iraq, too, is anticipating change, with growing support from sympathizers
and perhaps an incoming American president who may want to move policy in a
new direction.
Emboldened by an increasingly active black market and more visits from
executives preparing to do business with Baghdad once sanctions are lifted,
Aziz, the deputy prime minister, urged allies to break the embargo and
resume trading with his country while he was at U.N. headquarters for the
Millennium Summit in September.
France, Russia and China hold the most contracts under the current
oil-for-food program, which allows Iraq to buy nonmilitary supplies with oil
revenues through the U.N. While French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine
insists that his country's foreign policy is not swayed by commercial
considerations, France tops the list with $2.61 billion in contracts,
followed by Russia with $2.14 billion and China with $1.94 billion.
France, Russia and China, however, are careful to point out that they still
support the U.N.'s core demand: that Iraq must allow U.N. inspectors to
verify that the country has no weapons of mass destruction.
The current resolution requires Iraq to prove it has a clean slate before it
can receive a temporary suspension of sanctions. But Baghdad has barred
inspectors from returning since they left in December 1998 just before
Western warplanes bombed the country in retaliation for its alleged
obstruction of the inspections program.
The country's people are suffering because of the stalemate, opponents of
the sanctions say. Vedrine recently called them "cruel, outdated and
economically absurd" and is pushing for a partial easing of the embargo in
return for Iraq's gradual cooperation.
For the U.S. and Britain, though, it's all or nothing.
That's what led some members of the Security Council to begin chipping away
at the edges of the policy, hoping to cause the whole enterprise to crumble.
Last month, France, Russia and China pressured the U.S. and Britain to
reduce the share of U.N.-handled oil profits that Iraq pays to Persian Gulf
War victims, from 30% to 25%, so the country can spend more of that money on
its own people.
At the same time, the number of countries eager to send symbolic aid flights
to Iraq is taking off. Indonesia's president, Abdurrahman Wahid, has
scheduled a visit to Baghdad in November.
"The flights have a psychological effect," said Peter van Walsum, the Dutch
ambassador to the U.N. and chairman of the Sanctions Committee.
"But they also have an unfortunate effect of leading Iraq to think a
revision of the entire sanction regime is coming. The council is united on
[Resolution] 1284. That is clear." The ban on air travel is meant to
politically isolate Baghdad and keep any money, equipment or technology that
could be used for weapons from being smuggled into the country. The embargo
has been so thorough that even Iraq's top ministers and foreign diplomats
must enter and leave the country by traveling overland to the Jordanian
capital, Amman, a 10-hour car ride from Baghdad.
There have been exceptions to the no-flight rule. U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan landed at a military air base when he visited
Hussein in 1998. And the pope would have been allowed to fly directly to
Baghdad had his planned pilgrimage to holy sites in Iraq this year not been
canceled.
It was preparations for the pope's trip that uncovered the gray area in the
resolution that the recent aid flights have exploited.
The rules allow humanitarian flights as long as the cargo is inspected for
contraband and the U.N. Sanctions Committee approves the journeys in
advance--in part to prevent the passenger planes from being mistakenly shot
at by U.S. and British military forces enforcing "no-fly" zones over Iraq.
France and Russia both flouted the rules by notifying the committee but
taking off before receiving its authorization. But as more flights arrive,
fewer countries are even bothering with notification.
As support for the continuing isolation of Iraq withers, the U.S. is trying
to avoid being left alone in its Iraq policy.
"Washington is losing the battle of public opinion, and people are beginning
to consider alternatives," said Henri Barkey, chairman of the International
Relations Department at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and a former Iraq
analyst at the State Department.
"If the U.S. were to get out of the box, it would have to be part of a
bigger deal," Barkey said. "Each side must trade something. Now they are
exploring what are the parameters of that trade."
Two Jordanian ministers, business team leave for Baghdad
By BridgeNews Amman--Oct. 30--Jordan's Trade Minister Wasef Azer left for
Baghdad Monday at the head of a large business delegation for talks with
Iraqi officials on expanding trade between the two countries. The
discussions were also due to pave the ground for Prime Minister Ali Abul
Ragheb's trip to Baghdad Wednesday.
Ragheb would become the first such ranking Arab official to visit Iraq
aboard a national airliner in a decade, officials said.
Azer was accompanied by Minister of State Adel Shraideh, heads of the
chambers of commerce and industry and representatives for 85 Jordanian
firms, which were due to take part in the Baghdad International Trade Fair.
In a gesture of goodwill toward Iraq, Abul Ragheb decided earlier this month
to end the mandate of Lloyds Register, which had been monitoring Iraq-bound
trade at the Red Sea port of Aqaba since 1994.
However, no concrete evidence emerged so far that the London-based firm had
terminated its onshore verification of the Iraq-destined cargoes.
Leaders of the Jordanian business community hoped to see Jordanian exports
to Iraq increase substantially after ties between the two countries seemed
to have cooled in 1999, when bilateral merchandise fell to about U.S. $400
million from $600 million in the previous year.
Apparently for political reasons, the Iraqi government also decided to shift
from Aqaba to the Syrian port of Tartus as a key conduit for Iraqi imports,
mainly those contracted under the provisions of the U.N. oil-for-aid
program.
The two governments were due to open talks toward the end of the year for
renewing the bilateral trade protocol, which also covered Iraqi oil exports
to Jordan, currently running at about 4.8 million tonnes a year.
Iraq charged Jordan only for 50% of the oil bill, while the rest was a
grant. However, officials said that Iraq might ask for a higher crude price
during the forthcoming talks.
Russian delegation to visit Iraq, sign oil contract
Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax
Moscow, 30th October: A Russian State Duma delegation headed by
Deputy Chairman Petr Romanov and a group of senior Slavneft oil
and gas company officials lead by company president Mikhail
Gutseriyev will fly directly to Baghdad from Moscow by Vnukovo
Airlines on Tuesday [31st October].
The group will be in Iraq until 2nd November, a Slavneft press
release says. The political figures and industrialists are expected to meet
Iraqi President Saddam Husayn, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz
and parliamentary chairman Sa'dun Hammadi, the release says.
They will also be on hand for the 33rd Baghdad exhibition and
fair, at which Slavneft and certain other Russian companies will
be represented. Gutseriyev intends to meet the Iraqi oil minister to discuss
a draft contract concerning the development of one of the largest oil fields
in Iraq. This contract is expected to be signed in the coming few days.
Turkish minister flies to Baghdad for trade fair
BAGHDAD, Oct
30 (AFP) - Turkish State Minister Tunca Toskay flew into the Iraqi capital
on Monday for talks on boosting commercial links and to take part in the
Baghdad international fair, officials said.
He led a delegation of businessmen for the fair which opens Wednesday.
"We aim to develop our economic ties with Iraq while adhering to
international rules and oligations," said the minister of state for foreign
trade before leaving Ankara on a plane laden with a tonne of medical
supplies.
Toskay is scheduled to meet Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and other
ministers for talks on boosting commercial links.
Among the issues to be discussed will be Ankara's plans to open a second
border gate with its southern neighbour, he said, quoted by the Turkish news
agency Anatolia.
Ankara aims to increase the oil flow through a pipeline running from the
Kirkuk fields in northern Iraq to the southern Turkish port of Ceyhan to
full capacity as part of a series of moves to reinforce ties.
Iraq tries to entice more planes to Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 30 (UPI) - Iraq has started supplying free fuel to
planes landing in Baghdad in an attempt to encourage more flights to the
capital, Iraqi newspapers reported Monday.
Russia-Belarus Slavneft says to meet Iraq's Saddam this week
By BridgeNews Moscow--Oct. 30--A joint delegation comprising the
Russian-Belarusian oil company Slavneft and the Russian Duma will visit Iraq
Tuesday-Thursday for meetings with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and other
top government officials, Slavneft said in a press release Monday. Slavneft
said it would hold talks on joint development of "one of the biggest Iraqi
oil fields," the contract for which would be signed "in the next few days."
Slavneft President Mikhail Gutseriyev and Deputy Speaker of the Duma Pyotr
Romanov will head the joint delegation, the press release said.
"Slavneft's president will discuss joint development of one of the biggest
Iraqi oil fields with Iraqi Oil Minister (Amir Rashid Ubaydi)," the press
release said, but gave no further details.
Earlier this year, Slavneft said it had reached a preliminary agreement with
Iraq to develop an oil field with total reserves of about 1 billion barrels
of crude.
The company also said it considered oil projects in Iraq a priority and
aimed to extend its activities there.
Belgium to open commercial office in Baghdad `shortly`
BAGHDAD, Oct 30 (AFP) - The economics minister for Belgium's
French-speaking Wallonia region, Serge Kubla, said Monday that a Belgian
trade office would be opened shortly in Baghdad.
"Belgium will shortly open a commercial office in Baghdad to organise the
commercial and economic relations between the two countries," Kubla said,
quoted by the INA news agency.
Kubla earlier held talks with Iraq's Commerce Minister Mohammad Mehdi Saleh,
who predicted "great strides in commercial relations with Belgium, which
occupies an important place in Iraq's relations with Europe".
"Twenty Belgian firms from the electrical, mechanical, building, food and
pharmaceutical sectors are taking part in the Baghdad international trade
fair" which opens Wednesday, Kubla said.
Kubla arrived in Iraq Saturday on a six-day visit heading a delegation of
business leaders to discuss prospects for cooperation.
"It's a first for Belgium after ten years of blacklisting of (Iraq) by the
international community," Kubla told Le Soir newspaper before his departure
for Baghdad.
Iraq to recommence two domestic flights on 5th November - minister
Iraqi Airways will begin operating domestic flights from Baghdad
to Basrah and Mosul with effect from 5th November, Iraqi radio
reported on Monday.
It said the announcement was made by Transport and Communications Minister
Ahmad Murtada Ahmad.
The minister said the company's booking centres began work on
Sunday.
The decision on the resumption of flights had been taken "to
facilitate the movement of citizens, businessmen, and state
employees and in defiance of the unjust embargo imposed by evil
forces on our mujahid and steadfast country", the TV said.
Arabs slam continuing US-British attacks on Iraq
CAIRO, Oct 30 (AFP) - Arab League chief Esmat Abdel Meguid on Monday slammed
continuing US-British air attacks on Iraq and urged the UN to pressure the
two countries to stop their "military aggression." "The number of innocent
civilians killed in these attacks has reached the hundreds, and thousands of
others have been wounded since they began on December 16, 1998," Abdel
Meguid said in a statement.
He called on the United Nations Security Council to "move swiftly and
effectively to urge Britain and the United States to bring an end to their
military aggression." An Iraqi military spokesman said two civilians were
killed and another injured on Sunday in a raid by US and British warplanes
that patrol the southern part of the country.
It brought to 318 an Iraqi tally of deaths from US and British air raids
since December 1998, when Baghdad began challenging the force that has
patrolled Iraqi skies since the 1991 Gulf war.
The patrols enforce no-fly zones over both northern and southern Iraq that
were imposed after the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait. Iraq does not recognize
the zones, which are not authorized by any specific UN resolution.
Official says USA `number one terrorist state`
Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan has received (Sirg Queeler), deputy prime
minister and minister of economy in the Belgian region of Wallonia, and his
delegation.
Ramadan said that the United States is the number one terrorist state in the
world because it uses its aggressive force to kill children, steal money and
impose its hegemony on peoples, interfere in their internal affairs and
occupy their territories and water.
He added that the United States is besieging Iraq and imposing an air
embargo on it so that the world will not be able to discover its aggressive
policy and what it did against the Iraqi people.
On his part, the Belgian minister said his visit to Iraq at head of a large
economic delegation, aims at holding talks with the Iraqi officials on ways
to develop the economic and trade ties...
tel: +44 (0)20 7403 5200
fax: +44 (0)20 7403 3823
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
web: www.mariamappeal.com
