From: Mark Clement <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 190
Wednesday, January 17, 2001
The daily Monitor is produced by the Mariam Appeal.
Tel: 00 44 (0) 207 403 5200.
Website: www.mariamappeal.com.
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Saddam tells Iraqis they will win the next battles
Kyodo (Baghdad Jan 17) Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
marking the 10th anniversary of the start of the Gulf War in 1991,
appeared on official TV networks Wednesday morning and told
Iraqis he is confident Iraq will ''triumph in all the remaining
rounds'' of confrontations with its enemies.
''Iraq has triumphed over the enemies of the nation and over its
enemies. It will triumph in all the remaining rounds with the help
of Allah because it has achieved its triumph inside its soul, its
conscience, its heart and its mind,'' Hussein said.
The 20-minute address mainly contained morale-boosting calls
on Iraqis in particular and Arabs in general to ''remain steadfast''
in supporting the Iraqi leadership and backing Palestine.
Hussein urged other Arabs to end their fear of confronting
others, citing the Iraqis and the Palestinians as examples of
courage in their fights against Israel and the United States.
The Iraqi leader concluded his address by reciting the motto:
''Long Live Palestine, Free and Proud From the (Jordan) River to
the (Mediterranean) Sea.'' Iraq does not recognize Israel and has
recently been demanding that all Jews who immigrated to
Palestine return to their original homelands to allow the
Palestinians to establish a state all over pre-1948 Palestine.
The president did not refer to any major issues Iraq now faces,
including its strained relations with the United Nations.
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Ammunition is good for you: Jeremy Hardy
Jermey Hardy, THE GUARDIAN, January 17th, 2001
Various scientists have told us in past days that they have found
no evidence of depleted uranium causing disease. We should
detain them no longer with our questions; they clearly have a lot
of work to do. In the meantime, let us have a serious think about
this.
Perhaps we have been looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps
we should begin by asking ourselves what are the chances that
depleted uranium is good for us. Would we, for example, think it
wise to sprinkle a little onto our breakfast cereal? Would we
expect to see it next to depleted lavender in Boots aromatherapy
range? Would we give it to our kids to play with?
When I was a child, the Ministry of Defence owned the woods
near our home. The Ash ranges were ideally situated between
Aldershot and Sandhurst and the whole area was effectively
under military occupation. Needless to say, violent crime was rife
but officially sanctioned as horseplay. In any event, the first word I
was able to read was 'Danger'. It was remiss of the MoD not to
display itoutside pubs frequented by paratroopers, but efforts
were made to warn us about the military hardware littering what
served as our common land. Regrettably, a red flag meant not
that soldiers had shot their officers and proclaimed a soviet but
that the firing ranges were in use. And we were expressly and
gravely warned in safety lectures about what happened to boys
who collected shells and bullets for fun.
We all had fine collections of spent rounds but the real prize
was bullet in its cartridge, which could apparently be fired if you
held it in your dad's vice and hit the back of it with a hammer.
Unexploded mortar shells were more rare but no one tried to
hide from us the fact that they could take someone's eye out. No
one said that there was no proven risk that leaving unexploded
bombs lying around meant kids would find them. No one said
the risk from bullets was present but not significant. No one said
mortar shells occur naturally in pencils or Salisbury Plain, or that
we would have to hold one right next to the head to be exposed
to more than a limited risk.
I'm not even sure our teachers knew the exact scientific
explanation as to why being blown up or shot is dangerous; they
relied largely on anecdotal evidence. And arms manufacturers
have the decency not to contest the fact that their products are
basically harmful. They brag, indeed. Conversely, most things
that are lethally dangerous seem to be introduced to us by our
betters as a tremendously good idea. Then, after a bit, rare
side-effects are acknowledged in weaklings, infants and
women. Then scientists do some more work and are divided.
Then ministers get jumpy and disparities appear in their public
and private utterances. Then retired ministers are hired to shore
up the product's image, and money is given to Children in Need
as a gesture of goodwill. Then, finally, the game is up, and we
all wait to see whether our offspring will live to furnish us with
healthy grandchildren.
Those of us fortunate enough to have been born with eyes can
see what appear to be the results of depleted uranium in Iraq. It
is for this reason that the government is leaving the Gulf war out
of its investigations. So much depleted uranium was used then
that it might confuse the issue by proving a link. But perhaps the
dreadful birth defects and mutated plants are not evidence at all,
but signs and wonders portending some great event. I'm not an
expert and I can't say for sure, but I think the UN weapons
inspectors took a partial view of biological warfare.
Doubtless by raising the issue I risk being accused of
championing Saddam, fancying Milosevic and imperilling jobs in
the armour-piercing shell industry. Even to draw attention to the
fact that nuclear power has more to do with armaments than
providing energy and a fun day out for the whole family is to risk
accusations of being ideologically opposed to employment. And
I suppose I am scare-mongering. Rumours spread like toxic
dust on a light breeze. And doubtless the Home Office will have a
harder task in rescinding its welcome to Kosovan Albanians and
returning them to their bombed out homes if they know it's not
even safe to breathe there.
But perhaps I'm worrying unnecessarily. Perhaps they'll find out
vCJD is nothing to do with beef but a direct result of the Iraqis
stockpiling healthy brains. Perhaps tobacco companies have
been right all along and fags are as good for children as cocaine
and thalidomide are. Perhaps Aids is god's curse, like
menstruation. Perhaps soldiers aren't as tough as they were in
my young day when the propensity to mystery illnesses was
knocked out of them during basic training. Perhaps civilians
have unusually thin skins. What do I know?
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End To U.N. Sanctions Sought
NEW YORK
(AP) _ On one of his final days as U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations, Richard Holbrooke was invited to a lunch. He can be
forgiven for passing it up.
The simple meal of lentils, rice, pita bread and untreated East
River water is a symbol of the typical diet forced upon Iraqis by
punishing, 10-year-old U.N. sanctions, say peace activists who
displayed the lunch to onlookers Tuesday outside the U.S.
Mission to the United Nations.
``We believe the economic sanctions are illegal and immoral,''
said Ibrahim Ramey of the Nyack, N.Y.-based Fellowship of
Reconciliation. ``We understand the anxiety about weapons of
mass destruction ... and we are not supporters of the Baghdad
regime.
But we do support the right of Iraq's people to live in peace and
dignity.'' The lunch and demonstration outside the U.S. mission
was one of several protests in recent days designed to draw
attention to the plight of Iraq's 23 million people under
U.S.-backed sanctions ahead of the 10th anniversary of the start
of the Gulf War on Wednesday.
Sixteen people who gathered on the steps of the U.S. mission
were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and blocking a
public building, police Det. Frank Bogucki said.
Every day for the past week, the protesters have sent a
photograph of an Iraqi citizen and a letter to Holbrooke asking
him to consider using his influence to end the sanctions, clear
Iraq of depleted uranium used in bullets during the war, and
allow the country to rebuild its infrastructure.
Noting that Holbrooke leaves office Saturday, the Rev. Bob
Bossie of Chicago said: ``He has a few days to take a moral
stand.'' Holbrooke was unavailable for comment, his office said.
The United States says Iraqis are suffering because of the
policies of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. American officials
say the Iraqi leadership refuses to efficiently buy and distribute
food and medicine available through the U.N. oil-for-food
program.
But protesters say even if the program were working at its
capacity, Iraqis would still suffer.
Trade sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait
are being kept in place until the Security Council is satisfied that
Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction.
The sanctions, among other restrictions, prohibit Iraq from
receiving so-called dual-use items that could be used in
weapons.
They include chlorine and chlorinators for purifying drinking
water at plants struck during the Gulf War.
Sanctions opponents and humanitarian workers in Iraq say bad
water has created an epidemic of dysentery and infectious
diseases, resulting in thousands of child deaths.
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Iraq sends mixed signals to Bush
>From The Daily Telegraph January 17th, 2001
IRAQ made peace overtures to America yesterday, mixed with
an outpouring of defiant rhetoric on the 10th anniversary of the
start of the Gulf war. Iraq declared that it had been the true victor
of the 1991 war, having fought to fend off an "imperialist-Zionist
conspiracy" and successfully defended its "sovereignty" after 10
years of international sanctions.
"Saddam Hussein is the symbol of resistance, a symbol of
sovereignty, a symbol of dignity to each and every Iraqi and the
Arab nation," said Tariq Aziz, deputy Prime
Minister, the regime's smoothest spokesman. He accused
America and Britain of committing "war crimes" and "genocide",
and said Iraq would refuse to comply with United Nations
Security Council resolution 1284, which offers to end
the decade-old sanctions if Baghdad readmits UN weapons
inspectors.
But Mr Aziz also repeatedly issued conciliatory signals to George
W Bush, the son of the man who prosecuted the war, as he
prepares to take over the White House at the weekend.
Twice in recent days, Mr Aziz has made clear that Iraq wants to
open a "dialogue" with Washington and that it would "respond
and reciprocate" to any positive gestures from America. Another
outburst of defiance can be expected today when Saddam
makes a televised address hours after a late night candlelit
march to mark the start of the Allied air campaign.
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Labour MP fights trade embargo
>From The Daily Telegraph January 16th, 2001
A LABOUR Left-wing MP is fighting for the right of British
capitalists to do business with Iraq. Captains of industry
are losing an invaluable Arab market because of Britain's slavish
adoption of America's sanctions policy, George Galloway said
yesterday. So he is founding the Great Britain-Iraq Chamber of
Commerce to promote trade with Iraq and open "a door" for
British businessmen to do deals in Baghdad. "This is not a field
I am very familiar with, or a field I am even comfortable with as a
man of the Left," said Mr Galloway. "But business is legitimate.
Everybody is trading with Iraq." Mr Galloway's support for Iraq has
made him a famous figure there. He is on kissing terms with
senior Baghdad officials.
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Iraq to insist on lifting of embargo in UN dialogue
By Agence France-Presse Baghdad--Jan. 16--Iraq will insist on a
lifting of the decade-old embargo in its dialogue next month with
the United Nations and will reject any fixed agenda, a senior Iraqi
official said Tuesday.
"Iraq will accept no less than a total lifting of the embargo
during its dialogue with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan,
which we expect to take place at the end of February," Nizar
Hamdoun, the foreign ministry's undersecretary, said.
"This dialogue must be without preconditions, open and without
a prearranged agenda. The agenda will be subject to agreement
during the meeting," said the former Iraqi ambassador to New
York, quoted in Al-Rafidain newspaper.
In contrast, U.N. officials have said Annan would try to convince
Iraq to accept the return of international arms inspectors under
Security Council resolution 1284, which was passed in
December 1999.
Iraq, which has been under U.N. sanctions ever since its 1990
invasion of Kuwait, rejects the resolution offering a renewable
suspension of sanctions in return for Baghdad's full cooperation
with a new arms control regime.
On the incoming administration of U.S. president-elect George
W. Bush, Hamdoun said Iraq expected no change in
Washington's policy toward Baghdad and the Arab world.
"Iraq expects the worst. This administration will follow in the
footsteps of the previous one," he said. "And we do not expect it
to be any less harsh towards the Palestinian people."
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Iran complains to UN about violations of cease-fire accord by Iraq
Text of report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA
United Nations, 16 January: New violations by Iraq of a
cease-fire accord signed with Iran in 1988 which ended the
eight-year imposed war have been brought to attention of the
United Nations. In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, Iran's representative to the organization, Hadi
Nezhad-Hoseynian, cited 29 cases of violations committed by
the Iraqi regime between 8 February and 20 May 2000.
It reported an Iraqi speedboat, carrying three intelligence
personnel in plain clothes, as having intruded Iranian waters in
the southern port Khorramshahr on 15 April 2000. On 21 April
2000 five Iraqi forces opened fire at Iranian soldiers in the
Sumar area, forcing them to return the fire. The shooting lasted
for 20 minutes, the letter said. It cited ten attempts by Iraqi
troops to infiltrate Iranian territory which led to the arrest
of 15 of their members. "In one case, a member of the terrorist
Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) accompanied by two
Iraqi soldiers were arrested while attempting to enter Iranian
territory," it went on to say.
Iraqi boats illegally patrolling borders, digging operations for
canals conducted by the Ba'th regime using loaders and
bulldozers in borders, construction of surveillance posts as
well as other unauthorized construction activities have been
cited as other cases of violations.
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Shell confirms oil talks with Baghdad
LONDON, Jan 16 (AFP) - Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell said on
Tuesday it had held talks with Baghdad with a view to exploiting
Iraqi production if UN-imposed sanctions are lifted against the
country.
Meanwhile, British firm Premier Oil said it had studied the
situation but denied reports it had held discussions with Iraq.
Shell spokesman Justin Everard told AFP: "We have held
preliminary discussions with the Iraqi ministry of oil to
investigate the potential opportunities in the Ratawi field.
"The discussions are mainly technical in nature and... the Iraqi
authorities have been made clearly aware that we would do
nothing to contravene United Nations resolutions," he added.
The talks come on the 10th anniversary of the start of the Gulf
War, and at a time when the sanctions imposed over Baghdad's
invasion of Kuwait are increasingly contested.
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Iraq Slams U.N. Oil-for-Food Program
BAGHDAD, January 15 (Xinhua)--The United Nations oil-for-food
program has failed to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi
people, Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammad Mehdi Salah said on
Monday.
Salah told a press conference that Iraq has exported 40 billion
U.S. dollars worth of oil since the U.N. program was launched in
1996, but it has only received goods worth 9.6 billion dollars, an
average of seven dollars for each Iraqi every month.
The U.N. Sanctions Committee, dominated by the United States
and Britain, has put on hold contracts worth 15.6 billion dollars in
an attempt to worsen Iraq's humanitarian situation, he said.
The U.N. oil-for-food deal allows Iraq to sell oil and import food,
medicine and oil spare parts under strict U.N. supervision.
However, Salah said that there have been channels outside of
the oil-for-food program for Iraq to acquire commodities. ``Our
right is to export whatever we can to buy commodities Iraqi
citizens need,'' he said.
With the 10th anniversary of the 1991 Gulf War looming, Iraq has
stepped up a propaganda war against the U.S. and Britain, the
major forces opposing the lifting of the sanctions, triggered by
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
''Iraq will achieve a final victory over the U.S., Britain and those
who help them in the region against Iraq,'' Salah said.
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Iraq: Kuwait Part of a 'Conspiracy'
By GREG MYRE Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _
On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Gulf War, a defiant
Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz defended Iraq's 1990 invasion
of Kuwait and claimed Tuesday that his country was the victim of
a ``conspiracy.'' A decade after the conflict, the hostility between
Iraq and the United States still burns, and Aziz blamed the
Americans for keeping tough international sanctions in place
despite growing calls to ease or lift the punitive measures.
Aziz said Iraq had no regrets for its takeover of Kuwait, which
prompted more than 30 Western and Arab nations to join forces
and drive out President Saddam Hussein's troops in a
one-sided war that lasted just six weeks.
``When the criminals who attacked Iraq regret their crimes
against Iraq, we will consider whether we made any mistakes,''
Aziz told a news conference.
``Iraq was the victim of conspiracy against its sovereignty and its
national interests, and Kuwait was part and parcel of that
conspiracy,'' Aziz said. ``So Kuwait deserves what it had in 1990.''
In another development, Saddam's eldest son, Odai, who is a
member of parliament, proposed that Kuwait should be included
in a new map of Iraq.
Despite Iraq's crushing military defeat and the subsequent
sanctions which crippled the country economically, Aziz claimed
that Saddam's standing had been enhanced in the region.
``The stature of my president in Iraq and the Arab world is great,''
Aziz said. ``Saddam Hussein is a symbol of resistance, a
symbol of sovereignty, a symbol of dignity to every Iraqi.'' ``But of
course, he is not very much liked in the imperialist and Zionist
circles,'' he added.
Saddam, while firmly entrenched in Iraq, has not left the country
and has not met with any Arab leader since the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraqis planned to march through the streets of Baghdad in the
early hours of Wednesday, and Saddam planned a televised
speech later in the day.
But for the vast majority of Iraqis, it will be just another working
day in an impoverished country that saw its prosperity vanish
amid Saddam's military misadventures and the sanctions that
followed.
At Iraq's Gulf War museum, ex-soldier Sardar Suleiman walked
Tuesday through the arched halls filled with mangled remnants
of U.S. bombs and tabletop models of Iraqi buildings that were
reduced to rubble and later rebuilt.
``I saw incredible things during the war,'' said Suleiman, who
was an army bodyguard and driver in Basra, a southern city
bombed relentlessly by the United States and its allies. He
rushed badly wounded Iraqi soldiers and civilians to hospitals
during the nightly bombings, and in the midst of one raid a
pregnant woman gave birth in his car.
``You can come here to see all the buildings that have been
repaired,'' said Suleiman, 41, now a restaurant owner. ``But what
about all those people?'' At the Museum of Challenge and
Steadfastness, a clunky name for a graceful 19th-century palace
along the Tigris River, Suleiman was the only Iraqi visitor
perusing the history of the war.
For most Iraqis, the war is history and a far more pressing issue
is the sanctions.
The U.N. oil-for-food program, which Saddam grudgingly
accepted five years ago, has helped provide Iraq's 23 million
people with basic food and has put more medicine in hospitals
and pharmacies.
Iraq's economy, while still weak, is more stable than at any time
in the past decade.
But Iraq complains the program is inadequate. Iraq has sold $40
billion worth of oil under the program, but has received only $10
billion worth of goods, according to U.N. figures.
The remaining $30 billion has gone to pay war reparations,
assist the Kurds in northern Iraq and pay for the U.N. operation.
Also, Iraq has ordered billions of dollars worth of goods that
have been either slow in arriving or have been delayed by the
U.N.sanctions committee, which must approve all Iraqi
purchases.
The United States has been the leading proponent of sanctions,
saying they cannot be removed until Iraq meets U.N. resolutions
calling for the complete dismantlement of its weapons of mass
destruction programs.
Iraq and the United Nations have been at an impasse since
December 1998, when U.N. weapons inspectors left amid a
dispute over sites the U.N. team wanted to search.
Next month, Iraq will hold talks with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan on the sanctions and the possible return of U.N.
inspectors.
``We have no doubts about the good intention of the secretary
general, but the problem is with the pressure applied by the
American and British, which could hamper any move for the
lifting of sanctions,'' Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Nizar
Hamdoon said in an interview published in the al-Rafedaen
newspaper.
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Hundreds in Iraq demo
>From EVENING TIMES, January 16th, 2001
HUNDREDS of demonstrators gathered outside the House of
Commons today in protest at economic sanctions on Iraq.
Campaigners from several groups - including the controversial
Reclaim the Streets organisation and CND - are calling for MPs
to ''account for their complicity in the suffering of the Iraqi people
under sanctions''.
Organisers argue that as a result of the sanctions imposed on
Iraq since the Gulf War children are dying of malnutrition, lack of
medicine and contaminated water.
The taxpayer is footing the bill for ongoing bombing of Iraq by
British war planes at the rate of £4million a month, the activists
claim. Veteran Labour backbencher Tony Benn denounced the
campaign of sanctions and bombing of Iraq since the Gulf War
as a ''war crime''.
He said: ''We have killed hundreds of thousands of people with
sanctions.''
Four activists who claim they have broken UN sanctions by
taking medical supplies and toys to Iraq were due to hand in a
letter at Downing Street.
Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain said sanctions could not be
relaxed unless Saddam allowed UN inspectors to check his
stockpiles of weapons.
Meanwhile, oil giant Shell is having talks with Iraq over the
possibility of exploiting the country's oil reserves.
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Saddam's son recommends Kuwait added to National
Assembly map of Iraq
Text of report by Qatari Al-Jazeera satellite TV on 15 January
Uday, the eldest son of Iraqi President Saddam Husayn, has
asked the Iraqi National Assembly to change the Iraq map drawn
on the assembly's emblem to include Kuwait.
The newspaper Babil, which Uday owns, said that Uday
presented a working paper to the National Assembly, part of
which has been published by the paper, in which he said that the
assembly's emblem does not include all the Iraqi borders as the
various strata of the Iraqi people know them. The paper
recommended that the assembly's emblem include the map of
the whole of Iraq, including the city of Kuwait as part of greater
Iraq, because the emblem of the National Assembly represents
the people's representatives.
The text of the recommendation by Uday, who is an assembly
member, comes only two days ahead the 10th anniversary of
the Gulf war.
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