From: Sandeep Vaidya <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: This is the biggest overt breach of sanctions ! HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Iraqi dates are available for sale in England, and guess what? The Foreign Office spokesman is seriously concerned: "We hope that these imports are not depriving the Iraqi people of food supplies." - Sandeep "This is the biggest overt breach of sanctions yet." Ewen MacAskill Thursday December 20, 2001 The Guardian Making their appearance in shops throughout Britain from today: thousands of packets of dates from al-Masoori, a village in Iraq, just in time for the Christmas market. Dates have become part of the festive tradition in Britain, something to be passed round, though not necessarily consumed. But the dates from Masoori are special. Buying or eating them will be an act of civil disobedience. Half a tonne of them were brought into Britain this week in breach of international sanctions. They were imported by a group opposed to the United Nations sanctions in force against Iraq since its leader tried to annex Kuwait 10 years ago. Richard Byrne, a spokesman for the group, Voices in the Wilderness, said yesterday: "This is the biggest overt breach of sanctions yet." Theoretically, selling or consuming the illegal dates could carry a jail sentence. But the government, still smarting from its unsuccessful attempts last year to stop the resumption of commercial flights to Iraq from a range of countries, is unlikely to risk ridicule by prosecuting. Told that a consignment of dates had arrived and was being distributed, customs said it would investigate. Under the sanctions regime in place since the Gulf war of 1990-91, only oil can be imported from Iraq, and that is under the strict supervision of the UN. The oil revenue is supposed to be used to buy food and other goods for Iraq, whose people have suffered under a combination of the sanctions and their government's machinations involving key commodities. The Masoori dates, grown in the date belt near Basra in the south of Iraq and packed in Baghdad, were shipped first to Naples. The port of origin was given as the United Arab Emirates. Once within the European Union they were easily brought to Britain. Voices in the Wilderness said its members had spent yesterday distributing the dates to stores in more than 30 cities and towns. They are retailing at �4 a packet. The group put on stickers labelling the packets as "sanctions-breaking Iraqi dates" and attached a leaflet stressing that it was against the law to be involved in the sale of any goods from Iraq. Mr Byrne said: "Everyone who buys this will be engaged in an act of civil disobediance." A spokesman for the law enforcement section at customs said of the dates yesterday: "If they have entered the European Union illegally, it would be up to the country they entered to take action." Customs, he said, would contact Italy and ask what the authorities intended to do. A Foreign Office spokesman struck a note of sarcasm: "We hope that these imports are not depriving the Iraqi people of food supplies." Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
