IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR NUMBER 169 Monday, December 11, 2000 LATEST NEWS++++++ FRESH FROM ITS INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE....... VHS copies of the film 'Big Ben to Baghdad', the epic account of last year's journey in a 37-year-old Routemaster bus from London to the capital of sanctions-engulfed Iraq. The 65-minute-film costs �9.99 from the Mariam Appeal, 13a Borough High Street, London+++++++++++++++++LATEST ______________________________________________________ Syrian Oil Exports Up After Iraq Link Opens - MEES. NEW YORK - (Dow Jones)-Crude oil exports from Syria have risen sharply, by 140,000 barrels a day, in December to 430,000 b/d, the Middle East Economic Survey newsletter reported Monday, citing industry sources. MEES said the increase came after Syria on Nov. 20 started receiving 150,000 b/d of an agreed 200,000 b/d of Iraqi Basrah Light crude through a pipeline shut since 1982. The move is outside of the U.N. oil-for-food plan under which the U.N. monitors Iraqi oil exports and disperses revenues for the purchase of food and humanitarian aid. On Nov. 22, the U.N. said it received assurances that Syria wasn't illegally importing Iraq crude. An oil industry source in Damascus also said then that the 150,000 b/d shipped from Iraq was purely for testing the pipeline. Oil industry officials have said earlier that Syria intended to use Iraqi crude in its domestic refineries and boost exports of its own grades. MEES said that apart from the 140,000 b/d rise, "a further 40,000 b/d (is) still available to Syria's state-owned oil trading organization Sytrol." Syrian light crude exports increased by 110,000 b/d from the normal range, to 360,000 b/d, the newsletter said, while export of heavy Suwaidiyah crude also rose above its usual 70,000 b/d - "with a further 30,000 b/d still available." MEES said the Iraqi crude exports to Syria is part of the expanding cross-border trade with neighboring countries outside the oil-for-food program. "MEES understands that plans call for sending 75,000 b/d to the Homs refinery and 120,000 b/d to the Banias refinery. "It is further understood," the newsletter said, "that the economic agreement between the two countries provides for cash payment and barter trade for the crude purchases, with the final price put at approximately $20 a barrel - similar to favorable terms for Jordan's cross-border oil." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++_____________________ Iraq Seeks Surcharge For Lower UN-Approved Dec Oil Prices. LONDON -(Dow Jones)-Iraq Monday asked buyers of its crude oil to pay a cash surcharge above the official U.N.-approved selling price, sources said. This is the second time in recent weeks that Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization has sought a surcharge for oil deliveries. Iraq suspended exports Nov. 30 when the U.N. declined to approve below-market prices for December oil sales. Prior to that, buyers said they couldn't pay a surcharge because it would violate U.N. trade sanctions. There were no tankers preparing to lift oil at either of Iraq's approved export points Monday, sources said. On Friday, the U.N. reversed course and agreed to SOMO's December price proposal. An Iraqi official said Baghdad would accept compensation in other forms, such as goods or services. SOMO initially sought a 50-cent-a-barrel surcharge, buyers said. On Monday, the figure was reportedly lowered to 40 cents/bbl, but it wasn't mentioned in written communications with buyers, sources said. In this way, buyers and SOMO are afforded some flexibility, according to one Iraqi oil expert. ______________________________________________________ US oil prices jump as Iraq rekindles export dispute. NEW YORK, Dec 11 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices bounced higher Monday, recovering some of last week's heavy losses after key producer Iraq reopened a payment dispute with the United Nations (UN) that has cut its exports for nearly two weeks. Crude oil prices on the benchmark New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) were up 60 cents to $29.04 a barrel, after hitting as high as $29.45 on concerns that Iraqi oil export disruptions would continue. Baghdad told its oil customers Monday they would have to make 40-cents-a-barrel payments direct to an Iraqi bank account - an effort to regain control of its oil revenues in defiance of UN sanctions imposed after the Gulf War. The turn of events came as a shock to oil dealers, who were expecting a resumption of the OPEC member's oil exports after the issue of a surcharge appeared to cool after an agreement at the U.N. last Friday. Wrangling over the sanctions, which require that buyers of Iraqi oil make payments directly to a U.N. controlled account, has led to a disruption in Iraq's exports since December 1. "No way are we going to be turning a blind eye to this," said a diplomat at the United Nations in New York. Confusing the picture, however, a tanker chartered by state-owned Indian Oil Corp., moved alongside the berth at Iraq's Mina al-Bakr oil export terminal late Monday. The news fueled speculation that India may have been excused the oil payment surcharge after Iraq's diplomatic visit to India in November. Meanwhile, oil dealers remained worried by talk among OPEC producers that the group may cut back its output at its January meeting to buoy a recent decline in prices. Leading producer, Saudi Arabia, downplayed the talk Monday, saying that while OPEC was concerned about a recent decline in prices any suggestions of a supply cutback were premature. "It is still possible that the price might go up again," said a Saudi official. Kuwait and Venezuela have reportedly been mentioning potential production cutbacks in excess of a million barrels per day in 2001, after the cartel increased output four consecutive times last year. The 11 member group will meet January 17 in Vienna. Meanwhile, unseasonable cold forecast for the U.S. this week built up expectations of high heating oil demand - another factor which helped support the petroleum futures complex Monday. Meteorologists predicted that temperatures would fall well below normal in the Midwest and Northeast, the world's largest heating oil market, through the week. Heating oil inventories in the Northeast region remain deeply depressed compared with last year, and a pipeline and shipping bottleneck from the U.S. Gulf's refinery row have made it difficult to buffer the supplies. _____________________________________________________ Iraq insists again on surcharge for oil sales. DUBAI, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Iraq is insisting that customers for its crude under the United Nations oil-for-food programme pay a 40 cent surcharge direct to an Iraqi account before liftings resume, industry sources said on Monday. "We called to make sure that SOMO had dropped its 50 cent surcharge demand. They told us yes, but we've reduced it to 40 cents," said one. Another said he had received the same message from SOMO, Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation. SOMO had said it applied immediately to all sales from both permitted export points, Mina al-Bakr and Ceyhan. Oil traders had been assuming that the issue had been quietly dropped by Iraq after Baghdad resolved a row on Friday over December pricing for Iraqi crude. The industry sources said SOMO had renewed on Monday a written notice that a surcharge was required but that the 40-cent figure had only been given verbally. Under U.N. rules all revenues from oil-for-food go direct to a U.N. escrow account. _____________________________________________________ Two Jordanian planes fly to Iraq on 11th December. Excerpts from report by Jordanian newspaper 'Al-Arab al-Yawm' on 11th December The Royal Jordanian [RJ] airlines company is continuing its semi-regular humanitarian flights to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, with the aim of lifting the unjust blockade and breaking the illegal air embargo imposed on Iraq. In this context, informed aviation sources have stated that the RJ intends to fly a third plane of a commercial and humanitarian nature to Iraq on Thursday [14th December] at noon for the first time in 10 years. The RJ airlines flew two planes [to Baghdad] during the last two weeks carrying businessmen and citizens. Anybody can fly to the Iraqi capital within these trips, and RJ travel agents started selling one-way tickets for 150 dollars each and two-way tickets for 320 dollars each. The RJ Airbus 310 is scheduled to fly to Iraq at 12 sharp today. An official told `Al-Arab al-Yawm' that the RJ was organizing another trip on Thursday as part of semi-regular flights to take place on Thursdays. As a result, air trips to Baghdad will take place twice a week on Mondays and Thursday. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the trips could not be seen as a resumption of regular flights between Amman and Baghdad but as irregular flights on Thursdays and Mondays. He, however, said the government was seeking to resume regular air trips between the two countries in cooperation with the Arab and friendly governments. Jordan stressed through a senior government official earlier that it fully respected UN accords on Iraq. He also pointed out that the Jordanian competent authorities, including the Foreign Ministry, had made contacts with the UN Sanctions Committee through Jordan's UN delegate and that the necessary procedures for that purpose were taken... Another Jordanian plane is scheduled to take off carrying a delegation from the Agricultural Engineers Association on a three-day visit of solidarity with Iraq. The delegation is due to hold talks on ways to enhance cooperation in the agricultural arena between the two countries. _____________________________________________________ Tension near Dohuk in northern Iraq as Iraqi troops arrive - pro-PKK paper. Text of report by German-based Kurdish newspaper 'Ozgur Politika' web site on 11th December The arrival of 2,000 Iraqi troops into the Bahadir township in Dohuk in southern Kurdistan caused tension. The tension began when tribal chief Tahsin Beg called in the Iraqi troops following an argument between two tribes. According to information received from local sources, units of the Iraqi army entered Bahadir township, 20 km from Dohuk, around 2100 local time the day before yesterday. The tension, which escalated when the KDP [Kurdish Democratic Party] peshmergas amassed forces in the area, subsided when the Iraqi troops withdrew. The local residents went out into the streets around noon yesterday and protested against the incidents. _____________________________________________________ Iraq Condemns U.S., Britain for Maintaining Sanctions. BAGHDAD, December 11 (Xinhua) - Iraq on Monday condemned the United States and Britain for vehemently keeping in place the decade-old U.N. sanctions, imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al-Sahaf said that when the U. N. oil-for-food program was first launched in late 1996, it was supposed to be "temporary and for six months only." However, the U.S. and Britain have been trying to use the U.N. deal as an alternative for the total lifting of the sanctions, Al-Sahaf said. The U.S. and Britain are still insisting on the continuation of the "unjust" sanctions, which have entered the 11th year, the longest in the U.N. history, Al-Sahaf said. Iraq claims that it has fulfilled all relevant U.N. resolutions and demands the total lifting of the sanctions. Iraq has agreed to extend the U.N. oil-for-food program for another six months so that "our conduct will not be misinterpreted as non-positive" and that the "ill intentions" of the U.S. and Britain will be disclosed, said the Iraqi official. ______________________________________________________ Iraq foreign minister on USA's "aggressive and unethical" behaviour. Excerpt from report by Iraqi radio on 10th December The Foreign Ministry today held a celebration on the occasion of the anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights. The ceremony began with a recitation from the Holy Koran, imploring God to have mercy on our righteous martyrs. Foreign Minister Muhammad Sa'id al-Sahhaf delivered a speech, saying human rights - to which the UN is committed - are being violated in the name of international legitimacy through selective policies aimed at achieving limited political goals. The noble goals of human rights, he explained, have turned into a political weapon in the hands of some countries, a selective measure subject to double standards and a means of blackmailing and exercising political pressure on other countries. This violates the essence of the noble goals of human rights, he maintained. He pointed out that the negative repercussions of globalization and the wide gap between the north and south have become one of the most prominent characteristics of the age. This is in addition to the current trend of interference in countries' internal affairs within the framework of the so-called human intervention as one of the symbols of globalization and new colonialism, he explained. This is seriously dangerous and something that threatens countries' sovereignty and security, and people's freedom, he noted. Al-Sahhaf said: The world nowadays is in a dangerous situation as a result of the US behaviour, which has become increasingly aggressive and unethical over the past decade. This happened with the end of the unipolar equation and in light of the belligerency of the USA, which is trying to impose itself as a superpower. He added: We are celebrating on this important occasion at a time when the Palestinian people - children, women and youth - are facing murder, starvation and eviction. Their property is being destroyed and their land confiscated by the Zionist occupation forces, who enjoy the support and blessing of the USA. Al-Sahhaf asserted that what is taking place against the Palestinian and Iraqi peoples constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights. Therefore, all forces that believe in the principles of human rights are required to face this new pattern of colonialism, aggression, hegemony, and violation ______________________________________________________ Iraq, Jordan to Resume Regular Flights - Report. BAGHDAD, December 10 (Xinhua) - Iraqi Ministry of Transport and Communications has been making intense negotiations with its Jordanian counterpart to resume regular flights between the two neighboring countries, the official weekly Ittehad reported Sunday. The two countries planned to resume regular flights between their two capitals next week with two flights a week, the report said. By doing so, Jordan is in defiance of pressure from the United States, who has been demanding the kingdom not to resume flights to and from Iraq, said the report. The U.S. has been a major source of economic aid to Jordan. Jordan has been calling for lifting the sanctions on Iraq and has requested approval from the United Nations to resume Amman-Baghdad flights suspended since 1990. Jordan was the first Arab country to send a plane to the U.N. sanctions-hit country after Iraq reopened its international airport in August. On December 1, a Royal Jordanian airplane landed in Baghdad on the first commercial flight to Iraq in one decade since the sanctions were imposed for its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. ______________________________________________________ Hussein Is Getting the Last Laugh. Washington Post. By Charles Duelfer, Charles Duelfer, a guest scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is former deputy executive chairman of the U.N. Special Commission. In light of the present trend of events regarding Iraq, one could be forgiven for asking: Who's containing whom? Virtually all the continuing multilateral actions in the United Nations Security Council have the effect of reinforcing the legitimacy of Saddam Hussein's regime. Moreover, as Iraq continues to expand its oil capacity, and its contracts grow under the U.N.' s "oil-for-food" program, some members of the Security Council have an increasing stake in keeping the Iraqi president around. This has clearly been a large part of Iraq's strategy of dividing the United States from its allies and other members of the Security Council. Meanwhile, the United States, virtually alone, spends billions of dollars to keep Hussein in check. Imagine security in the region if U.S. forces withdrew. Except for the British (and they're increasingly wobbly), the rest of the permanent members of the Security Council contribute only criticism as they compete to win favor and lucrative contracts from Iraqis. The remaining council checks on Iraq include sanctions, which are eroding, and control of Iraq's legal oil-export revenues. These funds go to an escrow account, and the U.N. must approve any expenditure by Iraq. This is the last serious U.N. constraint on Baghdad's grander military visions. The Europeans seem convinced that pragmatism and commercial interests dictate that they must work with Hussein. Much of this is rationalized by the need to reverse the harm to Iraq's civilian population that sanctions cause. The United States, they are convinced, has no choice but to remain vigilant in the region in case the Iraqi leader gets aggressive again. Hence, they can afford, and indeed profit, from being relatively open to the regime. Given Hussein's track record and undiminished ambitions, the future does not look good. His regime has an exquisite sense of the value and use of power. Toward that end, it has acquired and now retains weapons of mass destruction. The same logic drives its oil policy. Iraq's oil minister, Gen. Amir Mohammed Rashid, has said he can more than double current production capacity-up to 6 million bar rels a day-in three to four years. Iraq's goal is to supplant Saudi Arabia as the dominant force in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It is worth noting that the same Rashid had a leading role in directing the successful development of Iraqi weapons-of-mass-destruction programs in the 1980s. His wife, Rihab Taha, ran the biological-weapons program. The Security Council provides the resources. It now allows Iraq to spend $1.2 billion a year renovating oil infrastructure. Economies in the West demand more oil, and they grow faster with energy prices lower. Iraq knows it has a powerful lever, and it intends to make it more powerful. The question the next U.S. administration will face is: Can we accept a future with Hussein in control of weapons of mass destruction and a sizable fraction of the world energy market? Iraq already is using the power of its oil capacity by throttling back its oil exports. Some council members focus narrowly on the Iraqi weapons threat and argue that a proposed monitoring organization would limit Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. This is highly dubious. Iraq refuses to permit U.N. inspectors in the country. Why should it? The regime is doing well following a strategy of sanctions erosion. Even if it did allow inspectors in, would the Security Council suspend sanctions and give the checkbook back to Hussein? If the council did so, the first thing Hussein would do is toss out the inspectors again if they were the slightest bit intrusive or effective. The United States appears to be losing its influence on this issue. It has been addressing the Iraq problem through the Security Council with the noble objective of obtaining a multilateral, collective response. For several years, this more or less worked. However, the interests of other countries have evolved, and Iraq has successfully lured them away. What is worse, the actions of other council members are driven increasingly by the objective of containing the United States. Drawing the United States into the Security Council is an opportunity to achieve equal footing with this "hyperpower," as French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine castigated the U.S. For the United States, the Security Council can become a voyage to Lilliput where the Lilliputians are quick-witted, nimble and can tie the United States up quite handily. This is not to say that the Security Council is without merit, simply that collective action has its limits. In the case of Iraq, the incremental decisions by the council that effectively re-empower Hussein will make it inevitable that the United States enact unilateral policies and actions, one way or the other. The next U.S. administration will have to make a hard decision as to whether it considers Hussein's regime inevitable, and if not, some tough steps will be in order. *. ______________________________________________________ Iran Calls for Reactivation of Security Accord with Iraq. TEHRAN, December 10 (Xinhua) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Sunday called for full implementation of a 1975 security accord between Iran and Iraq to pave the way for normalization of their relations. "Reactivation of the accord, which was suspended by the war, will guarantee the interests, security and stability of the two countries and pave the way for settlement of remaining problems from the war," Kharrazi told visiting Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister for International Affairs Riadh al-Qeysi. Kharrazi said their meeting that the two countries should solve "minor issues" first before they can effectively solve other issues related to relations, reported the official IRNA news agency. _______________________________________________________ Iraq offers Palestinians one billion euros - regrets not sending troops. Iraq promised the Palestinians one billion euros from Iraqi oil sales on Saturday to support the families of the victims of the intifadah and to provide food and medicine during the current crisis, Iraqi radio reported. It said the decision was taken at a joint meeting of the Revolution Command Council and the Iraq Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'th Party, which was chaired by President Saddam Husayn. "The joint meeting decided to set aside one billion euros from Iraq's revenues of oil exports for one year, 300 million Euros of which will be allocated to support the families of the martyrs and wounded of the intifada and to support those who's homes and property was damaged by the Zionist aggression," the radio said. "The remaining 700 million euros will buy food, medicine and other basic needs for the mujahid people of Palestine regarding them as equals to the people of Iraq." Saddam also sent the Palestinians a message, saying he would have preferred to have sent troops to assist the Palestinians, if he had had such an opportunity. _____________________________________________________ Iraqi Speaker receives Irish parliamentary delegation. Text of report by Iraqi TV on 9th December Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Sa'dun Hammadi received today the Irish parliamentary delegation headed by David Andrews, ex foreign and defence minister at the Irish government and member of the parliament. At the meeting, Dr Hammadi welcomed the guest delegation, regarding its visit as an indication of the desire to activate the developed Iraqi-Irish relations. For his part, Mr Andrews voiced appreciation of the Iraqis' hospitality, affirming his supportive stands for Iraq and demanding the lifting of the embargo. [video: Hammadi and members of the Iraqi National Assembly conferring with the Irish parliamentary delegation] tel: +44 (0)20 7403 5200 fax: +44 (0)20 7403 3823 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.mariamappeal.com
