>From: Mark Clement <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 128 >Friday September 28, 2000 > >LATEST++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > >Jordan to become third nation in week to send passenger flight to Iraq > >AMMAN, Jordan (AP) _ Jordan said it would send a plane carrying humanitarian >aid to Baghdad on Wednesday, becoming the third nation in a week flying >passengers to Iraq in an escalating challenge to U.N. sanctions. > >The United States stepped up its protest against the unauthorized flights, >which it maintains violate the sweeping U.N. embargo on Baghdad that >followed Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait. > >Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told the U.S. Senate on Tuesday she >was ``very concerned'' about unapproved Russian and >French flights to Iraq in recent days. She was trying to persuade Jordan not >to follow suit, and said the United States could invoke a law that cuts off >assistance to countries that violate the U.N. embargo on Iraq. > >Jordan plans to fly to Iraq on Wednesday whether or not it gets clearance >from the U.N. sanctions committee, a Jordanian government spokesman said >Tuesday. France and Russia sent planes to Iraq in the last few days without >waiting for clearance, maintaining that authorization is not required for >humanitarian or passenger >flights. > >``Whether there is a response or not, the plane will leave tomorrow,'' >Jordanian Culture Minister Mahmoud Kayed told The >Associated Press. ``We did our duty, informing the U.N. on the flight.'' > >But Jordan can ill afford to anger the United States, which gives the >impoverished nation dlrs 270 million a year in economic >and military assistance. > >Jordanian government officials were tightlipped about the flight early >Wednesday. Staff at Amman's Queen Alia International Airport would not even >confirm that an aircraft was being prepared for a 75-minute flight to >Baghdad. > >However, the Information Ministry invited reporters to go to the airport >for what it described as an ``event'' at 2:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) _ expected to >be the plane's departure. The sanctions committee gave its members until >1400 GMT Wednesday to raise any objections to the flight. If the flight >enters Iraq before that deadline, it could be seen as having done so without >U.N. approval. By late Tuesday, the United States had not made an objection. > >The developments heightened a growing call by Iraq's supporters for lifting >the U.N. sanctions. Russia's state-controlled airline Aeroflot said Tuesday >it was negotiating with Iraq on resuming regular passenger flights to >Baghdad. > >In Syria, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa called for lifting the sanctions >after talks in Damascus, the Syrian capital, with >visiting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. > >Critics of the U.N. embargo say it deprives the Iraqi people of desperately >needed medical help, food and other basic items. >The Jordanian government said its plane will carry government officials, >doctors and medical supplies, in a step it hopes will lead to a resumption >of passenger flights to its neighbor. > >The U.N. sanctions committee procedures regarding flights are in deep >dispute. France and Russia say nations wishing to send humanitarian goods >into Iraq need only notify the committee of the intended flight, not receive >its approval. > >The United States and Britain _ backed by the Dutch committee chairman _ say >committee members must signal their approval by not raising an objection to >the proposed flight within 24 hours. That >24-hour period would have ended Tuesday evening, but the committee extended >it to the new Wednesday deadline while consultations continued. > >France's refusal to give the committee time to consider its flight last week >prompted the United States to accuse France of violating the sanctions. On >Monday, the United States asked that the committee send letters of inquiry >to the countries involved to determine what violations had occurred, a U.S. >official said. > >Two other proposed flights are being considered by the committee: one from >Iceland and another from Russia to take off in the next few days. On Tuesday >night, the United States and Britain put ``holds'' on those flights pending >more information, said a spokesman from the Netherlands, which chairs the >sanctions committee. > >POLITICS: 10-YEAR EMBARGO ON IRAQ THREATENS TO UNRAVEL > >UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 26 (IPS) -- The 10-year-old U.N. embargo on Iraq, >which has devastated that country's economy and caused the deaths of >hundreds of children, is threatening to unravel. > > France and Russia, two veto-wielding permanent members of the Security >Council, have challenged the embargo, arguing that it does not apply to >civilian flights carrying humanitarian aid. > >Both Russian and French planes have, over the weekend, flown to Iraq >carrying not only doctors and medical supplies but also >business executives and athletes. But the United States and Britain, also >permanent members of the Council, insist that these flights are a violation >of the embargo which was imposed on Iraq just after it invaded Kuwait in >August 1990. > >China, the fifth veto-wielding member of the Council, has expressed its >strong opposition to the continued sanctions on >Iraq, but has not given any indication of ferrying relief supplies to >Baghdad. >India, which has signed an economic cooperation agreement with Iraq, has >indicated it will probably follow the French and the Russians with its own >humanitarian flight into Baghdad. Jordan and Syria may be next in line. The >United States and Britain maintain that all flights into Iraq have to be >authorized by the U.N. Sanctions Committee which has, on previous occasions, >approved civilian flights, including flights out of Baghdad for the annual >pilgrimage to Mecca. > >According to a news report from Baghdad, the Russians informed the committee >of its proposed flight but did not seek permission >to land in Iraq. The government of France, on the other hand, also notified >the committee but did not wait for approval. >U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters that the United States and >Britain had asked for a delay in the departure of the >flight from Paris "pending more information on the exact humanitarian nature >of the flight." But the plane departed Paris without having received the >committee's approval, Eckhard added. > >Britain and the United States interpret this as a clear violation of the >embargo. >Addressing reporters at the United Nations two weeks ago, Secretary of State >Madeleine Albright pointed out that it was very hard to figure out what >"humanitarian" means these days. > >"The United States disagreed with those who wished to fly into Iraq," she >warned. >Early this year, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the humanitarian >crisis in Iraq -- where hundreds of children have >been dying of ill-health and malnutrition -- posed "a serious moral dilemma >for the United Nations." > >"The U.N. has always been on the side of the vulnerable and the weak, and >has always sought to relieve suffering," he told >the Security Council, "Yet we are accused of causing suffering to an entire >population." > >Annan said the United Nations was in danger of losing the argument or the >propaganda war -- "if we haven't already lost it" >-- about who is responsible for this situation. "Is it (Iraqi President) >Saddam Hussein or the United Nations?" he asked. >The Secretary-General said he was particularly concerned about the situation >of Iraqi children whose suffering and, in all too many cases, untimely >deaths, were documented in a report prepared by the U.N. Children's Fund >(UNICEF) and the Iraqi Health Ministry last year. "We cannot in all >conscience ignore such reports, and assume that they are wrong," he told the >Council. > >Albright told reporters that the Iraqis will be pumping between $16 billion >and $20 billion worth of oil this year. "They were also importing 12,000 >cases per month of scotch whiskey," she charged. >She said she was not sure if this was food or medicine, but it was proof >that there was plenty of money for Pres. Saddam Hussein to provide for his >people. "The elite was living very well," she added. > >Albright said the United States would not agree to lift sanctions until Iraq >was relieved of all its weapons of mass destruction and deprived of the >military capability to produce such weapons in the future. "Saddam Hussein >was not invented. He had crossed an international boundary, invaded another >country, raped and pillaged and helped destroy the way that country >operated," she added. > >"He had lied about the fact that he had weapons of mass destruction. He had >prevented the United Nations (arms) >inspectors from entering Iraq. He had refused to abide by the will of the >international community. This was not an issue that was based on her tenure. >It was one that was American policy," Albright asserted. > >Speaking on behalf of the 15-member European Union (EU), French Foreign >Minister Hubert Vedrine told a U.N. news >conference early this month that France continued to believe that the U.N. >embargo on Iraq should be lifted. But action on this, he pointed out, should >be taken within the framework of Security Council resolutions which ensured >the security of countries neighboring Iraq. > >"France believed that the sanctions had become primitive, outdated and >economically absurd," he added. However, that was not a view shared by all >15 countries of the >EU, and it appeared that Iraq was still not prepared to accept the >provisions of U.N. resolutions, he added. > > >Gulf states condemn threat: United stance against Iraq >From KUWAIT TIMES, September 27th, 2000 > RIYADH: Information ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states >condemned during their meeting here yesterday the threats launched by the >Iraqi regime against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on >Monday. During their 11th meeting held here, headed by the Saudi Information >Minister Dr Fuad Al-Farassi, the ministers referred to the persistence of >the Iraqi regime in ignoring international >resolutions and Iraq's rejection of the Arab and international initiatives >that aim at lifting the international economic embargo imposed on it in >order to reduce the sufferings of the Iraqi people. > >The ministers of information asserted their adherence to the conformity of >the international media address as it reflects the official Gulf stance >towards various issues and problems facing their countries. >Following the conclusion of the meeting, the Kuwaiti Minister of >Information, Dr Saad Bin Teflah Al-Ajmi expressed to Kuwait News Agency his >satisfaction towards the stance of the GCC ministers of information >regarding the recent Iraqi threats. > > >Russia says it complied with UN requirements on Iraq flights > >UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26 (AFP) - Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, >Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia had complied with UN requirements on >notification when it sent a second flight to Baghdad at the weekend. > >"Passengers flights are not prohibited by resolutions of the Security >Council," Lavrov told reporters. > >"They only required notification of the committee of sanctions, and in our >ase notification was done well in advance." > >The controversial flight embargo against Iraq was imposed after Iraqi >troops invaded Kuwait in 1990, launching the Gulf War. > >The embargo is increasingly being challenged by countries that do not agree >with the United States and Britain on the need to maintain the sanctions. > >A Russian airplane carrying a delegation of around 100 people landed >Saturday at Baghdad's international airport. The Russians, expected to >remain >in Iraq for three days, were led by oil executive Yuri Chafrannik. > >Saturday's flight was the third Russian plane to land at Saddam >International Airport since it reopened August 17. > >The first, on August 17, was not specifically authorized. Moscow "informed" >the sanctions committee of the travel plans, a Russian official said at the >time. > >The second flight, on September 17, was a charter plane that carried a >delegation of Russian oil executives. That flight, too, did not await >official >approval from the sanctions committee. > >The 15 members of the United Nations committee on sanctions against Iraq >met for two hours here Monday in an atmosphere fraught with tension. > >The committee is profoundly divided over the legality of the flights. > >US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright reiterated Tuesday that, in the >opinion of the United States, UN authorization is required for such flights, > >despite the absence of specific UN legislation on this point. > >Iraq's ambassador Saeed Hassan said, "The Americans imposed their extreme >interpretation of the resolutions." > >He added, "I think that there is a momentum in the Council and everywhere >that the actual regime of sanctions on Iraq could not stand anymore in all >its >aspects". > >A French flight from Paris which reached Baghdad on September 22 carrying >75 passengers provoked an angry reaction from the United States. > >A second French flight is set to defy the UN embargo by flying from Paris >to Baghdad with about 100 passengers, organisers told AFP on Tuesday. > >The flight will leave Paris on Friday with France's former foreign minister >Claude Cheysson on board, according to its organizers -- a group of >individuals and non-governmental organisations. > > >Jordanian industry minister gives reasons for sending plane to Iraq > >Text of live telephone interview with Jordanian Industry and Trade Minister >Wasif Azar in Amman by Jamil Azar in the studio; >broadcast by Qatari Al-Jazeera satellite TV on 26th September > >[Jamil Azar] What is the importance of sending a plane to Iraq?Is the flight >meant to extend humanitarian aid or to carry a >certain message? >[Wasif Azar] The position on Iraq should be explained in a manner that is >clear to all. Iraq is Jordan's brother and neighbour. It is Jordan's main >economic partner. Therefore, Jordan's concern about the situation in Iraq >stems from this pan-Arab relationship on the one hand, and the economic >relationship on the other. The situation in Iraq is tragic as a result of >the unfair embargo imposed on it. This situation, particularly in the >medical field, makes it incumbent on all people concerned about humanitarian >issues to try to support and help our brothers in Iraq in order to face the > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. 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