>STOP NATO: °NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG >*****IRAQI SANCTIONS MONITOR (15)***** > >- FIRST FLIGHT TO IRAQ FROM UK IN 10 YEARS >-HOUSE OF COMMONS QUESTIONS >-CONSERVATIVE WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL >-SMUGGLERS AVOID SANCTIONS, FT >-NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNERS CRITICISE SANCTIONS? >-VON SPONECK IN M.E.E.S. >-CAABU DIRECTOR'S LETTER IN FINANCIAL TIMES >-ACTION > > >FIRST FLIGHT TO IRAQ FROM THE UK IN TEN YEARS > >The Mariam Appeal is proud to announce that it will be sending a flight to >Iraq in March with many tonnes of medicines in order to highlight the >crippling effect of sanctions on the Iraqi population. The flight will be >leaving London on 12th March and return to the UK on 18th March. This will >be the first flight to Iraq from the UK in ten years. > >If you would like to take part in this historic trip then please contact >either Dr Burhan Al-Chalabi on 0171 581 0506 or Mob 0973 818 691, or Stuart >Halford at the MARIAM APPEAL on 0171 872 5451 or Mobile 0771 267 3467. There >are a few places left on this flight and anyone that is interested should >contact us at their earliest opportunity. > > >-HOUSE OF COMMONS QUESTIONS > >Tam Dalyell MP goaded Blair yesterday 21/2/00 in Parliament over "enquiries >made as to the reasons for the resignation of the head of the WFP." (PM >"None"); over "consultations...about the health and food situation in Iraq, >before accepting the resignation [of von Sponeck]". (PM "None."). > > Similarly he asked the Secretary of State for Defence, Mr Spellar, "what >progress has been made with the removal and disposal of depleted uranium >contamination resulting from coalition forces' ammunition." Spellar replied >it was "primarily a matter for the governments on whose territory they lie." >Spellar added that there had been ordnance clearance in Kuwait and Saudi >Arabia, that in five cases studied by the US Army Centre for Health >Promotion and Preventative Medicine "the level of DU found was well below >the level set by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission." However, he said >that "the government do not have any comparable scientific data concerning >the levels of DU currently present in Southern Iraq." > > >-CONSERVATIVE WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL > >An editorial in today's (22/2/00) WP states that the von Sponeck and >Burghardt resignations " lend force to an argument that has been gaining >ground: The sanctions are counterproductive and should be abandoned. And >it's true: The sanctions have not brought Saddam down. While his people >scrape by, he and his cronies live well despite the economic embargo. It's >also true that delivery of needed supplies to Iraq's people is inefficient. >Iraq needs hundreds of millions of dollars worth of spare parts to repair >the electric power grid heavily bombed during the 1991 Gulf War and to >increase oil production to the levels now allowed by the United Nations--so >that it can buy all the food and medicine it is entitled to under the >program." >It goes on to say that such "critics are basically wrong" since it is >impossible that "a normal, impartial humanitarian relief operation could be >carried out under a profoundly inhumane dictatorship even if there were no >sanctions." >The editorial mentions United Nations' own assessments over "Iraqi >incompetence" which "accounts for many bottlenecks in the current aid >program. Other failures are due to Saddam's vengeful political agenda." The >WP says "the oil-for-food program has boosted Iraqi food rations by 64 >percent since 1996, but progress is suspiciously uneven. Conditions are >relatively good in the Kurdish north, where U.N.-supported private >organizations administer aid; malnutrition lingers in the Shiite south, >which Saddam controls. Benon Sevan, the oil-for-food program's New >York-based chief, said that except in a few cases Iraq's government won't >even discuss humanitarian needs and how to address them." >It's admitted that "the United States does block the imports of some oil and >electric industry spares, but only to prevent such shipments from being used >as cover for the importation of military hardware." >Finally, "the sanctions would disappear if Saddam accounted for all his >weapons of mass destruction, as promised. Instead, he refuses to permit even >a weaker U.N. weapons inspection team to replace the one he earlier kicked >out. The Iraqi people are suffering. But the author of their misery is the >man who uses them as pawns in a game of military and political >aggrandizement, a game he would play even more aggressively--and at who >knows what cost in human lives--if sanctions were lifted prematurely." >ISM comment: "Iraqi competence" may be a factor but most commentators note >the power cuts, underdeveloped roads, lack of refrigeration facilities and >permeable northern border which also explain mortality rate differences. It >is interesting that the WP values the NY-based Sevan rather than von >Sponeck, Burghardt or Halliday. Similarly that the WP notes the trade vetoed >by the US is described as "some oil and electricity spares" but not the >hundreds of other goods, industrial and otherwise, that Washington blocks, >(see, for example, Mariam Appeal website, or Geoff Simons, The Scourging of >Iraq) including insulin, pencils, water-purification materials, shrouds, >childrens clothes. As for weapons of mass destruction, now that the Israeli >Knesset has discussed its 200-300 nuclear warheads, perhaps Washington will >embargo Israel until it finally allows international observers to Dimona, >Kfar Zechariah and Yodfat? > >-SMUGGLERS AVOID SANCTIONS, FT >In today's 22/2/00 FT an article says that "at the vast Central Commission >for Customs compound west of Baghdad and it is hard to believe that Iraq is >into its tenth year of one of the strictest international sanctions regimes >imposed on a sovereign state." It says there's a "a steady stream of Iraqi, >Syrian and Jordanian trucks" departing with "a wide selection of goods, only >some of which enter the country as part of the United Nations oil-for-food >and humanitarian aid programme." > >It juxtaposes the high-tech goods here with the "cornucopia of cheap >consumer items from China and elsewhere in Asia" available in the city >markets. > >Government officials, it says, are coy about revealing the extent of its >illicit trade. "There is no way Iraq will expose any of the facts," says >Nizar Hamdoon, the deputy foreign minister. "It would be counter-productive >to uncover them at this point." > >Favoured routes are said to be through Aqaba, Jordan and the UAE. >"Sometimes it seems as if half of Dubai [the UAE's main commercial >member state] is in Baghdad," says one western diplomat in the Iraqi >capital. "You can order any computer you want and get delivery within two >weeks." But the Dubai connection - which is serviced by boats - can be >problematic, according to some merchants. "We prefer Amman [the Jordanian >capital] because launches from the Emirates can sink," says one merchant. >Meanwhile "in the north, Turkish and Iranian goods pour into Iraq through >the borders of the autonomous Kurdish areas that are outside the direct >control of Baghdad." > >"Although no accurate figures are available, petroleum smuggling is >conservatively estimated to be worth several billion dollars annually." > >It holds that China and Russia are testing "the limits of the sanctions in a >public way which might drive a wedge through the embargo." > >"This can be seen most clearly in the oil sector, where Lukoil, Russia's >biggest oil company, and state-owned CNPC of China, both signed oilfield >development deals in the 1990s which suggested that they might begin >preliminary work in spite of sanctions." > >The lack of activity by the two companies has clearly disappointed Iraq. >"We're not satisfied with them," says a senior oil ministry official who >has dealt with the issue. "We say to them: 'You signed an agreement. Now >honour it.' " > >Both China and Russia have told the Iraqis that as permanent members of >the UN Security Council they cannot allow their companies to openly >violate sanctions: "But then why did they sign the contracts?" asks the >ministry official. > >"Leonid Fedoun, Lukoil vice-president, says the Russian company "will never >violate sanctions", although he thinks the Russian foreign ministry "should >have a more active attitude to this problem". > >"Iraqi officials say that even though both companies have done preliminary >work, such as geological modelling, they were in effect prevented from >making any progress on the ground both by political factors and by practical >difficulties, such as the inability to transfer money to Iraq, or to ship in >the large amount of equipment needed for such projects." > > >-NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNERS CRITICISE SANCTIONS? > >AranicNews.com reports 21/2/00 on the publication of a letter signed by >leading international personalities and organisations who are urging "world >leaders to move to help the Iraqi people and lift the sanctions imposed on >it since August of year 1990." > >Nelson Mandela, Michael Gorbachev, the Dalai Lama, Yasser Arafat are amongst >35 signatories of an open letter addressed to heads of member states in the >UN and its Security Council. The International Committee of the Red Cross, >the International Labor Organization, and Amnesty International are among >the list of organisations which have signed. > >However, there is some uncertainty over the letter as forms of it have >included the names of, amongst others Marie Theresa, who died several years >ago. It has been said too that this "Appeal from the Peace Laureates" is a >draft document and was not intended for release. > > > >-VON SPONECK IN M.E.E.S. > >In a round up of recent days' opposition to sanctions (von Sponeck and >Burghardt resignations, and their aftermath; US Congressmen's appeal to >Clinton to lift the embargo), the Middle East Economic Survey of 21/2/00 has >further comments from outgoing UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator Hans C. von >Sponeck. He speaks abouti)the criticism levied at him from Washington, ii) >the "unimplementable" humanitarian programme, and iii) the amount of concern >at the UN in Iraq: > >i)"I do not accept criticism that says, 'oh well, this man in Baghdad, all >he's doing is regurgitating what the Iraqi Government argues'...We have >spoken out on the basis of what we perceive to be the reality in which this >country exists at the moment." > >ii)"The major factor in my decision to tender my resignation relates to my >belief that the resolution passed in December last year for the >humanitarian program here in Iraq is to a large extent unimplementable," >he said. "I think it will take a very long time before the good ideas that >are included in that resolution will benefit the people in this country, the >civilian population...I do not want to be party to a continued struggle >under which the people in this country have to exist because there is a >mix-up between the civilian concerns and the disarmament discussion." > >iii)He also made it clear that "I am not alone in my view that we >have reached a point where it is no longer acceptable that we are keeping >our mouth shut. Everyone here in the UN is concerned over the inadequacy of >the performance of the oil-for-food program." > > >CAABU DIRECTOR LETTER IN FINANCIAL TIMES > >Sir Cyril Townsend, Director of the Council for the Advancement of >Arab-British Understanding, notes in a letter in a today's FT that UN >"officials working in Iraq seem to have a shorter career span than most >football managers." He asks "how many more of these dedicated international >officials will have to resign, sacrificing their personal careers, before it >is finally acknowledged by the US and even our own government that the >sanctions policy on Iraq is ineffective, strengthens Saddam Hussein and his >friends, while condemning the average Iraqi to a life of misery that has >lasted over nine years?" > > >ACTION > >1) The Philadelphia-based Campaign to End the Sanctions is organizing a >protest against President Clinton when he visits the University of >Pennsylvania on Thursday, February 24. He is scheduled to speak at 3 PM at >the Irvine Auditorium as part of the Granoff Forum (a new program in which >business leaders discuss issues with Penn faculty and students). The >protest is organized around the demands: End the War on Iraq; >End the Sanctions; Stop the Bombing. >The protest will assemble at 34th and Walnut at 2 PM. There will be flyers, >giant puppets, banners and signs, and leafletting around campus starting at >12:30 on the 24th. >The Campaign to End the Sanctions adds that this "is an excellent >opportunity to build on the recent UN resignations and the growing >criticisms of US Iraq policy." > >2) LABOUR PARTY FOREIGN POLICY GUIDELINES. It has been suggested that >interested organisations and individuals may contribute to the UK Labour >Party's process for drawing up foreign policy guidelines. In the second >edition of a consultation document, "Britain in the world," areas relevant >to input over sanctions on Iraq include "promoting global social justice", >"strengthening international institutions" and "global security". >Iraq is mentioned on page 34: "in Iraq, we have diminished Saddam Hussein's >ability to threaten his neighbours .... we are continuing to work in the >UNSC to see a resumption of monitoring ... which could lead to a boost to >the humanitarian help given to the people of Iraq & the prospect of a >suspension of sanctions." >Suggestions for the 3rd document, if approved by the National Policy Forum >in July, it will be put to the Party Annual Conference in September. It is >intended that, if approved, this document will form part of the Labour Party >manifesto for the next election. >Possible suggestions might note the greater role of sanctions in foreign >policy, and recommend emphases on "smart sanctions", relating sanctions to >international humanitarian law, monitoring the effects of sanctions on >civilians, making clear outlines for "dual use" materials, the need for >transparency in sanctions committees. >Comments can be as brief or as long as you like, though should preferably be >under a page in length. Comments need to be put on to a standard form. The >document is not available on the web at the moment (only the 1st edition is >there, via http://www.labour.org.uk/; the 2nd edition is substantially >altered), but it can be ordered by phone, on 0870 590 0200. > > >Iraqi Sanctions Monitor >Mariam Appeal > >t: +44 (0)207 872 5451 >f: +44 (0)207 753 2731 >e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >w: www.mariamappeal.com > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
