IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 146
Monday October 30, 2000
NEWS+++++++LATEST++++
OIL PRICES MAY PLUNGE
World prices for crude oil could continue to drop in the week
commencing 30 October 2000. This is provided there are no new crises
regarding Iraqi exports or politically in the Middle East. The United
Nations is reported to be willing to approve on 30 October 2000 Iraq's
request for payment in euros instead of United States dollars but observers
will remain cautious concerning the possibility of disruptions in Iraqi oil
exports. Analysts
said that the expected increase from the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries would not add pressure to oil prices.
(Daily Telegraph October 30)
>From BRIDGENEWS GLOBAL MARKETS, October 30th, 2000
Oct 30--0218 GMT/1118 JT
.................................................................
TOP STORIES:
Iraqi oil minister says Iraq to start pricing oil in euro Wed
Amman--Oct. 29--Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Rashid announced Sunday that his
government would start pricing Iraqi crude exports
in euros instead of the U.S. dollar as of Wednesday, according to the
official Iraq News Agency (INA). He told the National Assembly that France,
Russia and China had supported an Iraqi move in this respect at the U.N.
Security Council, which was due to discuss this issue later this week.
Rashid said his country supported "fair" oil prices for both consumers and
producers.
UN-Iraq euro rift may stall oil sales
>From BRIDGENEWS GLOBAL MARKETS, October 30th, 2000
Top Stories in Monday's Wall Street Journal Europe:
Iraq ignores United Nations' proposal that Baghdad put off
plans to start pricing its oil contracts and other trade in euros instead of
dollars. It intends to start signing contracts denominated in euros starting
Nov. 1, whether or not U.N. supervisors of the country's so-called
oil-for-food program approve the change. The U.N. Iraq Sanctions Committee
is scheduled to meet
Monday to discuss the issue, which, if unresolved, could
lead to a supply crunch.
Turkish troops kill 12 Kurdish rebels in southeastern province
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 30 (AFP) - Turkish soldiers have
killed 12 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in one of the deadliest
clashes in recent months in the southeastern province of Sirnak, security
officials said Monday.
Three members of the Turkish security forces were wounded
during the fighting in a rural area near the town of Beytusebap in the
province which borders Syria and Iraq, a statement from the emergency rule
headquarters in this southeastern city said.
The statement did not say when the clash took place.
Jordanian PM to make first flight to Iraq in decade: press
AMMAN, Oct 30 (AFP) - Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb will travel to
Iraq by plane on Wednesday, the first Arab head of government to do so in a
decade, for oil and trade talks, the press reported Monday. At the end of
September a cabinet official told AFP that Abu Ragheb would travel to Iraq
soon but the visit was apparently delayed for calendar reasons.
A government source told AFP the visit "would probably" take
place on Wednesday. Al-Rai newspaper said Abu Ragheb will fly aboard a Royal
Jordanian plane to Baghdad and will be accompanied by "100 political and
media figures." "Abu Ragheb will be the first Arab prime minister to visit
Baghdad since the (UN) air ban was imposed on Iraq" following the 1990
invasion of Kuwait, the newspaper said.
Al Aswaq economic newspaper said Abu Ragheb will chair the
Jordanian side of the Jordan-Iraq joint commission aimed at
renewing and raising the volume of an annual trade and oil
agreement. Amman depends on Iraq for all its oil needs and under the terms
of the agreement would import 4.8 million tonnes of Iraqi crude in 2000 at
preferential rates in exchange for 300 million
dollars worth of goods. Al Arab Al Yawm newspaper said six cabinet ministers
will be travelling with Abu Ragheb to Baghdad for a visit expected to last
three days.
Al Aswaq said Jordan was "studying the possibility of operating a trade air
link between Amman and Baghdad".
Jordan became the first Arab country to defy the 10-year-old UN air ban
imposed on Iraq at the end of September when it
flew a humanitarian plane to Baghdad, strengthening ties between the two
neighbours.
Abu Ragheb's visit to Iraq will coincide with the Baghdad international
trade fair which this year will attract
80 Jordanian firms or twice as many as those that attended the event in
1999. Trade and Industry Minister Wassef Azar is leaving for Baghdad later
Monday to head his country's delegation to the fair. Amman Chamber of
Commerce chief Othman Bdeir told official Petra news agency on Saturday that
only 30 companies attended the fair last year compared to the 80
participants expected in Baghdad this year.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated in the mid-1990s as Jordan,
which is friendly with the United
States, hosted Iraqi dissidents on its soil. But during the Gulf war Jordan
was one of the rare Arab countries sympathetic to Baghdad. Mudar Badran was
the last Jordanian prime minister to visit Iraq, traveling there in 1991 by
road.
Plane carrying woundedPalestinians lands in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Oct. 29 (Kyodo) _ A plane carrying Palestinians
wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces landed
at Baghdad's international airport just after noon Sunday,
joining a recent chorus of countries flying into Iraq despite
ongoing U.N. sanctions.
According to a source at the airport, the plane took off from
Gaza airport at dawn and landed in Amman en route to Baghdad.
It was the first flight from Palestinian territory since the
creation of Israel in 1948. According to the official Iraqi News Agency, the
plane was carrying ''a Palestinian official and popular delegation who made
the trip in solidarity with Iraq against the unjust sanctions.'' It also
said the delegation was led by Palestinian
Public Works Minister Azzam al-Ahmed, and included members
of the Palestinian parliament.
Countries that have defied the U.N. embargo on flights to Iraq
include Russia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.
Political and economic motives for using euro, says Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ Iraq will dump the hated U.S. dollar and start using
the euro this week, an official said Sunday _ days after the United Nations
warned the switch could cost the country millions.
``The American hatred of Arabs and humanity in general
represent strong motives for the change,'' Iraqi Finance
Minister Hikmat Mizban Ibrahim told the official Iraqi News
Agency.
The government's main source of hard cash is through the U.N.
approved oil-for-food program, which allows Iraq to skirt trade
sanctions and sell its oil as long as most of the proceeds
go to meet the needs of its citizens. The sanctions were imposed to punish
Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Washington has been the strongest advocate of keeping them
in place until Iraq proves it has surrendered weapons of mass
destruction.
``Starting Nov. 1, all oil contracts prices will be set by
the euro instead of the dollar,'' said Ibrahim. ``We requested
the U.N. to start another account for the purpose.'' The United Nations now
has a dollar-based escrow account at the French bank BNP Paribas in New York
to receive payment for oil exported by Iraq through the U.N. oil-for-food
program.
The United Nations outlined a plan Friday that would
meet Iraq's request for oil payments in the common European
currency, but said the system could cost millions of dollars
that would otherwise go to Iraqi humanitarian needs.
A report from the U.N. Treasury Department said the Security
Council's sanctions committee and the U.N. secretary-general's
office should study the Iraqi request further because of its
significant expected costs and other technical questions.
Iraq, which exports about 2.2 million barrels of oil a day,
has threatened to halt exports beginning next week if
its proposal isn't accepted _ a warning that spooked the oil
market.
The United States and Britain, which take the hardest line
against Iraq on the U.N. Security Council, have said they will
not oppose creation of a euro-based account. Diplomats said
Friday that the proposal would likely go ahead.
In September, when the decision was announced, the dollar was
selling at little more than 2,000 dinars on the local currency
market. Now the dollar is worth no more than 1,820 dinars.
Iran denies Russian humanitarian flight air corridor to Iraq
Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax
Barnaul, 29th October: Iran has refused to provide an air
corridor to an aircraft ferrying humanitarian aid to Iraq
that was due to take off from Barnaul, Siberia, on Sunday [29th
October].
The contents of the aid shipment were collected by
the general population and a number of organizations in Altay Territory and
is destined for the children of Baghdad, an official in the territorial
administration's press service has told
Interfax. Iran has alleged that granting the over-flight rights would
have violated the international sanctions in place against Iraq,
this official said. Siberia Airlines is now engaged in talks aimed
at obtaining an air corridor over Turkey, he said.
RATIONING OF STAPLE FOOD PRODUCTS
Al-Wifaq newspaper quotes from a statement issued by Iraq's
Ministry of Trade at the beginning of May 2000, announcing
the staple food rations per person, effective May 2000. The
oil ration has been increased from 1.25 kg in April 2000 to
1.5 kg. The milk ration has been increased from 250 grams in
April 2000 to 500 grams. The flour ration has been set at 9
kg, rice - 2.5 kg, and sugar - 2 kg. The newspaper notes that
the government has been distributing staple food ration coupons
to the population since the Gulf War in August 1990.
Secret SAS report blames problem soldier for Bravo Two Zero
Victim of disastrous Gulf War mission 'enabled Iraqis to spot
patrol behind enemy lines'
>From The Mail On Sunday October 29th, 2000
BY SEBASTIAN O'KELLY
THE secret SAS report into the Bravo Two Zero mission
concludes that one of the soldiers who died on the ill-fated Gulf War patrol
must take the blame for allowing the troops to be spotted by Iraqi soldiers.
The report admits that the regiment should never have assigned Sergeant
Vince Phillips to the mission, in which two other SAS men died, as he was
'difficult to work with and could be a problem' and that he 'lacked the will
to survive'. The report, seen exclusively by The Mail on Sunday, says Sgt
Phillips fell
asleep on watch, compromised the operation by getting up
and moving about when the others were hiding from a goatherd, and that his
'heart was simply not in the task'.
The revelation of the report's contents is a damaging blow
to the SAS reputation for thorough planning and preparation.
Phillips died, probably of hyper-thermia, during an escape
bid after the patrol was spotted and he lost contact with comrades. His
conduct has been at the heart of a row which erupted last week between other
members of the patrol who have written conflicting accounts of what
happened, and the Government, which is trying to stop another account
through court action.
The court case is taking place in New Zealand, where
a patrol member known as Mark the Kiwi wants to publish his account. He
accuses Chris Ryan, the only patrol member to march out of Iraq and author
of The One Who Got Away, of wrongly criticising Sgt Phillips. Ryan in turn
accuses Andy McNab, who was captured and tortured by the Iraqis and wrote
Bravo Two Zero, of being economical with the truth.
Last week the Government deepened the controversy when senior
SAS officers appeared anonymously in court to condemn publication of such
books. The regiment's former commanding officer said Ryan was guilty of a
'most disgusting act' in publishing his account of Vince Phillips's actions.
But the secret SAS report, written by senior officers after debriefing
survivors and signed by the commanding officer and director of special
forces, seems to offer the clearest indication of how and why the mission
went wrong.
Even before the patrol landed by helicopter behind enemy
lines in 1991 to locate Scud missile launchers, the report says there were
doubts about Phillips' suitability. Patrol leader McNab was warned he 'could
be difficult to work with and could be a problem'. Once the eight men had
established a 'lying-up point', deep behind Iraqi lines Phillips was accused
of 'a good deal of grumbling'. More seriously, he 'fell asleep whilst on
watch'.
'The actual compromise of the LUP is probably the fault of Sgt Phillips,'
the report says. 'When the goatherd was in the immediate vicinity of the LUP
everyone lay still and quiet except for Sgt Phillips, who was up and moving
and trying to see what was happening. When asked if he had been seen, he
said that he had not, but it would seem almost certain that he was and that
this led to the complete compromise.'
Iraqi soldiers appeared - and the patrol were then fighting for their lives,
their mission in ruins. But even before it began, Chris Ryan claims, there
were serious doubts about whether it had been properly thought out. 'Vince
had a bad feeling about this operation,' he says. 'He was highlighting
feelings we all had - after scratchy briefings, equipment not arriving, lack
of information and maps dating back to 1945. But there was nothing we could
do about it.' After the patrol was pursued by the Iraqis, it split up - a
mistake blamed in the report on Phillips for 'not keeping contact'. Four
were left under McNab, while Ryan, Phillips and another soldier, 'Stan',
headed for the Syrian border. Ill-equipped in subzero temperatures, rain and
snow, Phillips, a marathon runner carrying no spare weight, succumbed
quickly.
The report says his 'tactical concentration had gone. He marched almost as
if he was in isolation from his colleagues, his head down. Ryan recalls:
'During the night he would get into a rage and start screaming, then go
quiet and sleep. I tried to boost his morale but it was no use. On the third
night we lost him. He went to sleep and died of exposure. It was my decision
to leave him - that is something I have to live with.
'Vince was a very professional SAS soldier. He was a good friend, but he was
not on form in the Gulf and should never have been picked for the mission.'
The report admits Phillips's participation in the mission was 'a failing
within the regimental system . . . a communal failure of management'.
After a ten-day march Ryan made it to the border, Stan was captured. Last
week, after the former SAS commanding officer
crit-icised Ryan's book in court, the Phillips family spoke of the pain his
account had caused. Ryan welcomes publication of the book by 'Mark the Kiwi'
, who stayed with McNab after the patrol split. 'What is digusting is that
the Army should be
trying to block publication by stirring up all this hurt in Vince's family,'
Ryan says. 'The double standards get me. My old commanding officer, now
saying how bad these books are for the SAS,
forced me into giving my story to General Sir Peter de la Billiere, the
former chief of British Land Forces. I was told I didn't
have a voice in the matter, or my career would take a dive.' Ryan, who lives
near the SAS Hereford base, added: 'SAS soldiers are the best in the world
but are sometimes let down by the management. What they must do now is
publish the
official report on what really happened to Bravo Two Zero.'
Iraq radio says US warplanes fired missiles at farm on 23rd
Text of report by Iraqi radio on 29th October
The US administration has committed a new criminal action
that is added to the series of crimes against the jihad march
of our people when its aggressive ravens bombed the civilian areas
in Hammam al-Alil in Nineveh Governorate.
The INA correspondent in the governorate said that at 1315
[1015gmt] on 23rd October [date as heard], the ravens of the
aggressors unleashed their black hatred by firing a US-made
air-to-surface missile at a farm in Hammam al-Alil area. The
missile hit the land and then went up before exploding. One
citizen was wounded in the incident and damage was caused
to the house of another citizen. The fence and the windows of the
house were destroyed in the attack, and damage was caused to the farmland in
the area.
Kuwait calls for UN commission to probe Iraqi charges on oil
theft
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 29 (AFP) - Kuwait's cabinet on Sunday
dismissed Iraqi charges that the emirate has been stealing oil from a border
field and called for a UN commission to investigate.
"The cabinet welcomes forming a neutral technical commission
to be assigned by the UN Security Council to investigate Iraqi allegations
and inspect Kuwaiti oilfields," the government said after its weekly cabinet
meeting.
"But the investigation must also include production
of oilfields and wells inside Iraq near the borders with Kuwait, with the
aim of establishing the truth, and hold the two sides bound by the outcome,"
it said.
Around 45 countries represented at Baghdad international fair
BAGHDAD, Oct 29 (AFP) - At least 45 Arab and European
countries are set to take part in Baghdad's international fair opening
Wedneday, the organisers said.
The 33rd fair of its kind will have the biggest foreign attendence yet, an
Iraqi official told AFP, recalling that the last fair
attracted exhibitors from only 36 countries.
Representatives of several foreign companies were already
here Sunday to prepare their stands with a view to sealing contracts in Iraq
under the oil for food programme, he added.
Interest in the Baghdad fair has grown this year with the
unprecedented number of civilian flights carrying humanitarian aid and
businesspeople from Europe and the Arab world.
These flights have increased despite the air embargo imposed
on Iraq since its invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. The first two days of
the fair in Baghdad will be reserved for representatives of state companies
and businesses, before opening to the
public for a week, according to the organisers.
Two Iraqis killed in US-British raid: Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Oct 29 (AFP) - Two Iraqi civilians were killed and another injured
Sunday in a raid by US and British warplanes that patrol the southern part
of the country, an Iraqi military spokesman said.
"Enemy planes bombed civilian targets ... killing two civilians and wounding
another," said the spokesman, quoted by the official
Iraqi News Agency. The latest death reports bring to 318 an Iraqi tally of
deaths from US and British air raids since December 1998, when Baghdad began
challenging the force that has patrolled Iraqi skies since the 1991 Gulf
war.
Iraq frequently claims that US and British air raids cause damage to
civilian targets, but has rarely been able to provide
proof.
Ukainian aircraft with businessmen and medics arrives in Iraq
Text of report by Ukrainian television on 29th October
[1120-1145] [Presenter Lidiya Taran]
According to Associated Press, a Ukrainian aircraft with businessmen and
medics on board as landed at Baghdad airport. According to the agency, this
is the first visit of a Ukrainian aircraft to Iraq since 1990 when the USA
introduced economic sanctions against Saddam Husayn's regime. Although the
sanctions are still in force, some countries, including Egypt, France,
Turkey and Russia have been sending aircraft with food items and medications
to Iraq
over the past two months in order to prompt the USA to lift the
sanctions.
Iraqi deputy premier receives Tunisian foreign minister
Text of report by Iraqi TV on 29th October
Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz received Tunisian Foreign
Minister Habib Ben Yahia, envoy of Tunisian President Zine
El Abidine Ben Ali to President Saddam Husayn, may God watch
over him. The two officials discussed bilateral relations and
ways of enhancing them in all fields to serve the interests of the
two fraternal countries and peoples. The talks also centred on
means to cement Arab solidarity.
Tariq Aziz expressed appreciation for the position of Tunisia
government and people - in support of Iraq's just cause,
as well as Tunisia's demand for lifting the Iraqi blockade. Aziz
stressed the depth of the historical relations between the
two fraternal countries and peoples. He also explained Iraq's
firm position towards Resolution 1284 and called for the need
to lift the embargo imposed on Iraq.
Arliners arriving in Iraq to be offered all services for free
Text of report by Iraqi TV on 29th October
It has been decided to exempt civilian airliners arriving in Iraq from fees
and charges for the ground services of the
Public Aviation Establishment and the services of the Public Corporation of
Iraqi Airways, Minister of Transport and
Communication Ahmad Murtada Ahmad has told the INA [Iraqi News Agency].
The minister said that the decision was made out of appreciation for the
initiatives of the brothers from Arab countries and friends from foreign
countries in breaking the unjust blockade imposed on Iraq by operating
flights to it. The minister said no UN resolution bans such civilian flights
from and to Iraq. He said the planes arriving in Iraq will be exempted from
fees and charges for ground services. Also, these planes will be refuelled
for free. Any other facilities needed by these planes during their stay at
Saddam International Airport will be provided for free as well.
Asian Cup Soccer All Stars Squad
BEIRUT (Oct. 29) XINHUA - Following is the squad of the Asian Cup All Stars
selected by the Technical Study Group of the Asian Football Confederation on
Sunday:
Goalkeeper: Jiang Jin (China) Defenders (from left to right):
Mohammed Al Khilaiwi (Saudi Arabia), Hong Myung Bo (South Korea), Jamal
Mubarak (Kuwait) Midfielders (from left to right): Shunsuke Nakamura
(Japan), Hiroshi Nanami (Japan), Karim Bageri (Iran), Abbas Obeid Jassim (
Iraq), Nawaf Al Temyat
(Saudi Arabia) Forwards: Naohiro Takahara (Japan), Lee Dong Gook (South
Korea)
--
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