IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 152 Thursday, November 9, 2000 LATEST NEWS+++++++++ Gulf states welcome Russian role in Iraqi settlement. -The Persian Gulf countries perceive positively Russia's versatile efforts to secure the settlement of the situation around Iraq, according to Vasily Sredin, the Russian president's special envoy for the Middle east and Deputy foreign minister of the Russian Federation. Sredin was speaking upon return from a regional tour which had taken him to Qatar to Bahrain to Kuwait to Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Sredin said that the views of Moscow and the Arab capitals coincided or were very close to one another on a majority of positions. "To my mind, the discussion of the Iraq-related issues was very productive and useful," Sredin stressed. As concerns the unblocking of the critical situation in the Middle East peace process, Russia and the member-states of the Cooperation Council of the Gulf Arab Countries agreed that its was necessary to resume the negotiations in all directions - Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese. The Arabs welcome Moscow's greater role as a co-sponsor of the regional settlement, Sredin said. vfp/. (c) ITAR-TASS 2000. ___________________________________________________ Lift Iraqi sanctions, says Putin. Text of report by Russia TV on 9th November [Presenter] This morning Vladimir Putin received credentials from ambassadors of nine states at a ceremony in the Kremlin. Presentation of credentials is an ancient and very good tradition. It is a symbol of mutual respect between states and their aspiration to cooperate as good neighbours. Ambassadors from Peru, Iraq, the Czech Republic, Venezuela and other countries in the Orient and Africa attended today's ceremony in the Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace. Vladimir Putin noted in his message that Moscow is sincerely interested in the development of good relations with all states of the world. The president also stressed that many Russian approaches to the solution of international problems found understanding and support from the states whose ambassadors were presented in the Kremlin today. Here is what Vladimir Putin had to say about relations between Russia and Iraq. [Putin, speaking from a dais in an ornate room] Close cooperation and interaction - diverse cooperation, I would say - has developed between Russia and Iraq. Our position on a settlement of the Iraqi issue also remains unchanged. We only accept political and diplomatic ways of resolving existing disagreements. We consistently and purposefully advocate the earliest possible lifting of sanctions against Iraq and a return to normal life in that country. I would like to point out that the Russian Federation's position on this is gathering steadily more supporters at the UN. _________________________________________ Greeks to fly to Iraq to oppose sanctions. ATHENS, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A group of Greek celebrities said they would fly to Iraq on Friday to protest against international sanctions on Baghdad. "We will remain in Baghdad for three days to express our solidarity to the people of Iraq who are suffering the consequences of santions," the group said in a statement issued on Thursday. They include actors, members of parliament and journalists, and international non-governmental organisations. The plane is the latest of several sent to Baghdad by Arab and non-Arab countries opposed to U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Baghdad International Airport was reopened in August for the first time in 10 years. ____________________________________________________ Iraqi paper blames Jews for U.S. poll result delay. BAGHDAD, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A leading Iraqi newspaper on Thursday said the delay in declaring the result of the U.S. presidential election was orchestrated by the Jewish lobby which wanted Democrat Al Gore to win rather than Republican George W. Bush. Babel, newspaper of President Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday, said the Jews in the United States wanted Gore to win in order to give more support to Israel in its clashes with the Palestinians. "If they (Jews) succeed in making Gore win the election they will become the real leaders of America," Babel said in a front page editorial. The paper accused Gore of being biased towards the Jews in the United States and Israel, saying Bush gave less importance to "cooperation with Zionist forces". Florida officials on Thursday are due to finish recounting six million votes that will decide who won Tuesday's election, but legal challenges could delay any victory parties for some time. Bush and Gore are both projecting confidence that they will ultimately capture Florida's 25 electoral votes and clinch the presidency. Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz stated on Wednesday that the hostile U.S. stance towards Baghdad would not change whether Bush or Gore won the election. "America allies itself with the Zionist entity (Israel) and it commits daily aggression against Iraq, imposes the (U.N.) embargo and kills the people of Iraq," Aziz said. Aziz was referring to U.S. and British warplanes which enforce no-fly zones in Iraq to protect a Kurdish enclave in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south from possible attacks by Baghdad troops. "We never bet on the results of the American elections," said Aziz. "And since the beginning we have believed that the American ruling system would not change by changing the president." ______________________________________________________ Putin tells ambassadors sanctions against Iraq must be lifted. By Sergei Yakovlev President Vladimir Putin has met foreign ambassadors at a ceremony of presenting ambassadorial credentials to the president on Thursday. Addressing the ambassadors, Putin declared that Russia comes out "for the soonest lifting of sanctions against Iraq in order to bring life in Iraq back to normal." "The position assumed by the Russian Federation has been drawing a growing number of supporters in the United Nations," Putin said, adding that Moscow's approach to settlement of the Iraqi problem remained unchanged. Russia "accepts only a political diplomatic way of settlement of the existing differences," the president said. Iraq and Russia have developed the relations of close and multifarious cooperation, Putin underlined. In a separate statement, Putin declared that "turning the Persian Gulf into a zone of peace and stability" remains one of Russia's key tasks. "We intend to actively promote comprehensive settlement in the Middle East," Putin said. Russia is hoping for support to its position and its efforts to reach settlement there, the president said. The ambassadorial credentials have been presented to the Russian president in the Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace by the ambassadors of Iraq, Oman, Czech Republic, Venezuela, Macedonia, Peru, Botswana, the Gambia and Tonga. (c) ITAR-TASS 2000. ____________________________________________________ Iraq Hopes Aid Deliveries Will Lead To End Of Sanctions. Iraq's hopes of rejoining the international community may have been riding along with the Vnukovo Tu-154 airplane that landed here filled with medical specialists and business leaders from Russia. Battered economically by 10 years of UN sanctions resulting from its August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq is hoping that this trip, billed as a "humanitarian flight," and others like it from France and Arab countries, will loosen the West's resolve and lead to further commercial and political contacts with the rest of the world. Vnukovo officials say they intend to continue the aid flights on a weekly basis and hope to eventually transform the effort into a regular passenger service. According to statistics provided by Umaid M. Mubarak, Iraq's health minister, the number of deaths due to sanctions reached 177,483 in 1999, making the total about 1.2 million since 1990. Mubarak said Iraq urgently needs cerebral valves and other equipment for treatment of hydrocephalus, a neurological disease, and the Russian side promised to help. Mubarak identified as priority areas the training of young Iraqi doctors in Russia, especially ophthalmologists, cardiologists and endoscopic surgeons, and the sharing of experiences by Russian doctors who would visit Iraq. "We really need your help," the Russia Journal quoted him as saying. ____________________________________________________ Hain U-turn on criticism of French Iraq policy. A DAY after denouncing French policy on Iraq as "contemptible", Peter Hain, the outspoken Foreign Office minister, was forced yesterday to make a partial retraction in an attempt to ease tensions with Paris. "These were unscripted remarks in answer to questions on flights and Iraqi sanctions," explained Mr Hain. "We value our co-operation with the French government ... and are working with the French to achieve a common position on the flights issue." Foreign Office officials said Mr Hain's partial retraction was not an apology and reflected mounting British irritation with what they see as an attempt by President Chirac to undermine the decade-old international sanctions against Iraq. They said the statement was issued to avoid a row during yesterday's visit to Paris by Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, who addressed a French parliamentary committee and held talks with his counterpart, Hubert Vedrine. During an address to the Royal Institute of International Affairs on Tuesday, Mr Hain denounced a flurry of "humanitarian" flights to Iraq and growing diplomatic contacts with the regime of President Saddam Hussein. Two flights designed to weaken the air embargo against Baghdad have taken off from France, including a Falcon 900 which left on Tuesday with far-Right activists, including Jany le Pen, wife of Jean-Marie Le Pen, president of the far-Right National Front. "Frankly, French policy in Iraq has been pretty contemptible," said Mr Hain. "It will put back the resolution of the crisis." The only means of lifting the sanctions was for Iraq to comply with United Nations Security Council resolution 1284 and re-admit international weapons inspectors. Those who challenged the sanctions only encouraged Saddam to be more intransigent and prolonged Iraqis' misery, said Mr Hain. He accused the Baghdad regime of deliberately withholding humanitarian supplies to the Iraqi population to generate more sympathy abroad. Britain has stepped up its campaign to defend the sanctions policy, with a rash of leaks about Iraq's diversion of aid, its vast expenditure on luxury projects for the regime and human rights atrocities. But London and Washington, the main advocates within the Security Council of a tough line against Iraq, have come under renewed pressure from Moscow to change policy. The Tories accused Mr Hain of embarrassing Britain. "The only time Peter Hain says something forthright and credible about his duties as a foreign minister, he manages to get it wrong," said Richard Spring, Conservative MP spokesman on the Middle East. "By mouthing off and then backing off, Mr Hain has found himself with the worst of both worlds. He has neither stood by his remarks ... nor enhanced our relations with our partners." (c) Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2000. ____________________________________________________ Iraq asks U.N. to extend oil-for-food phase. DUBAI, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Iraq has made a formal request to the United Nations for an extension of the current eighth phase of the U.N.'s oil-for-food exchange to January 15, an Iraqi official said on Thursday. "We have sent the request to the United Nations but we have not got a response back yet," the official told Reuters. The latest six-month phase of oil-for-food is due to expire on December 5. Baghdad made a similar proposal to extend oil sales volume towards the end of the previous six-month sales tranche in June, but customers were kept on tenterhooks until the eleventh hour when state marketer SOMO submitted a formal request and received clearance from the U.N. That phase eventually was extended by 17 days to prevent disruptions between tranches of the humanitarian programme. Iraq in recent weeks has raised a number of issues with the United Nations over oil-for-food, getting agreement for the payment of oil sales in euros rather than dollars and saying it wants to start deliveries to Syria outside the programme. Several Iraqi customers said on Wednesday they had received telex confirmation from Iraq's oil marketer SOMO of export loading dates through mid-December and say they were told that Iraq wanted to prevent any break in oil sales. Iraq has offered Russian oil companies, now attending a trade fair in Baghdad, about 15 million barrels of additional volume to be lifted during the eighth phase. Oil-for-food allows Iraq to sell unlimited volumes of crude under strict U.N. supervision as an exception to Gulf War sanctions in exchange for humanitarian goods. __________________________________________________ USA opposed to Ukrainian flights to Iraq. Excerpt from report in English by Ukrainian news agency Intelnews Kiev, 8th November: US representatives in the United Nations Security Council have taken an extremely negative position regarding the development of economic relations between Ukraine and Iraq, Social Democratic Union leader Serhiy Peresunko told a press conference in Kiev on Wednesday [8th November]. He informed the media about the prohibition of a direct flight to Baghdad for the Kharkiv-produced aircraft AN-74 TK-200, which delivered a part of the Ukrainian delegation to an international exhibition in the Iraqi capital. The aircraft itself was part of the Ukrainian exposition in Baghdad. "From the standpoint of the international law, the prohibition of the flight of this passenger aircraft had no legal grounds, since it does not fall within sanctions which the United Nations imposed on Iraq," one of the exhibition participants and parliament deputy Oleksandr Shpak commented. ___________________________________________________ Oil holds strong, Iraq suspends exports. Reuters OIL prices held strong on Wednesday after gains this week led by supply worries at two major producers - Nigeria and Iraq. London Brent blend futures started unchanged at $31.68 after Iraq on Tuesday halted crude exports out of the key Turkish port of Ceyhan. US light crude was up five cents at $33.45. The suspension was expected to last up to 24 hours, while the United Nations put in place a mechanism to allow Iraq to get crude payments in euros instead of dollars. An industry source early on Wednesday said shipments from Ceyhan, which accounts for about one million barrels daily of Iraq's 2.4 million bpd of oil sales, remained closed. "There is radio silence from Baghdad," said the source. "We'll have to see when they decide to reopen again." UN sources said the export halt was linked to Iraq's demand for the UN to put in place a mechanism to receive payment in euros rather than dollars. Dealers said the move was seen as Baghdad's latest attempt to use oil as a political weapon in defiance of the West, especially as Americans were electing a new president. _____________________________________________________ Iraqi, Moroccan ministers confer on expanding cooperation, lifting embargo. Text of report by Iraqi TV on 8th November Hikmat al-Azzawi, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, today met with Mustapha Mansouri, Moroccan minister of industry, trade, energy, and mineral resources, who is currently visiting the country. The deputy prime minister and finance minister said that the wrongful economic embargo imposed on Iraq has collapsed thanks to the wise leadership of President leader Saddam Husayn and the jihad of heroic Iraqis who made amazing accomplishments by relying on their own abilities and making use of available resources [short break in reception] of increasing economic cooperation with sisterly Morocco and finding new ways that enable the two sisterly countries to expand cooperation in other fields in a way that serves national interests. __________________________________________ RUSSIAN OIL COMPANY OFFERS ASSOCIATED GAS PROGRAM TO IRAQ. MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) - The Siberian-Urals Petrochemical Company, or SIBUR, has submitted to the Iraqi Oil Ministry a concept of a program for using associated gas from the country's southern oil fields. This was done in the course of the International Baghdad Fair, a company press service official told Interfax on Wednesday. The official quoted senior Vice President Mikhail Burlakov as saying that the program includes the construction of systems for collection of associated gas and gas refineries and an overhaul of Iraq's petrochemical plants. _______________________________________ Gulf states welcome Moscow's role in Iraqi settlement - Russian envoy. Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Dubai, 9th November: The Persian Gulf countries perceive positively Russia's versatile efforts to secure the settlement of the situation around Iraq, according to Vasiliy Sredin, the Russian president's special envoy for the Middle East and deputy foreign minister of the Russian Federation. Sredin was speaking upon return from a regional tour which had taken him to Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Sredin said that the views of Moscow and the Arab capitals coincided or were very close to one another on a majority of positions. "To my mind, the discussion of the Iraq-related issues was very productive and useful," Sredin stressed. ____________________________________________________ Iraq threatens to stop oil exports. Iraq has threatened to end its oil exports under the Iraq-U.N. Oil-for-Food Program because more than $11 billion in oil revenues are either frozen or suspended in its escrow account with the United Nations, the official Iraqi News Agency reported Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz was reported to have sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday warning that unless funds are released there is no point in Iraq continuing to export oil. Iraq and the U.N. signed a Memorandum of Understanding in May 1996 under which Iraq was allowed to sell limited quantities of oil in six-monthly phases to pay for food, medicine and essential commodities needed by its 22 million people. The export limits were lifted last year. Since then, under strict U.N. supervision, Iraq has been signing contracts with foreign firms to import the goods allowed, but, Aziz wrote, "the amounts floated, semi-frozen, accumulated or held (in the escrow account) totaled $11.372 billion on Nov. 2...(but while the money is) suspended and frozen...the Iraqi people do not benefit." He said 1,328 contracts, valued at $2.28 billion, are on hold by the U.N. and 541 contracts valued at $1.24 billion remain at the U.N. Secretariat without even being handed on to the U.N. Sanctions Committee for consideration. "What is the use of, and need for, the continued pumping of oil?" Aziz asked in his letter. Iraq currently exports around 2.4 million barrels of oil a day and produces about 3 million barrels a day. (c) 2000 KYODO NEWS. _______________________________________________________ Iraq-Syria pipeline ready for restart in 2-4 weeks. DUBAI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The Iraq-Syria pipeline, out of action since 1982, could be restarted in two to four weeks after a technical inspection is completed, industry sources said on Wednesday. "The technical evaluation could take two to four weeks," one source said. "We are not ready to push the button just yet." Technical experts from Iraq and Syria met last week to discuss the pending inspection, he said, adding that only technical matters were holding up the flow of oil. Once the evaluation is finished, barrels could start to roll at about 100,000 bpd, building up gradually to about 200,000 bpd, a source in Syria has said. U.N. diplomats said Iraq needs permission from the world body to implement an agreement with Damascus to export about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Basrah Light crude oil through the pipeline to Syria's domestic refineries. Baghdad wants the barrels sold outside the United Nations oil-for-food deal which allows Iraq to sell unlimted quantities of oil to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian needs for the Iraqi people suffering under nearly a decade of sanctions. A potential imminent resumption of throughput in the Iraq-Syria pipeline appears to put Baghdad back on collision course with the U.N. just after its recent tussle over the denomination of its oil export revenues. ___________________________________________________ Moroccan envoy meets Iraqi leader. An envoy from Morocco's King Mohamed VI had talks in Baghdad on Wednesday with President Saddam Husayn aimed at boosting ties between the two countries, Iraqi TV reported. Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Mustapha Mansouri passed a letter to Saddam from the king which expressed solidarity with and support for the Iraqi people in their attempt to lift the blockade against them. The king "also touched on Morocco's plan to reactivate cooperation between the two fraternal countries and to bolster it in all political, economic, social, and cultural fields", the TV said. Saddam praised the ties of friendship between Iraq and Morocco and expressed "Iraq's readiness to cooperate with Morocco in all fields". Source: Iraqi TV, Baghdad, in Arabic 1800 gmt 8 Nov 00. _______________________________________________________ Russian oil company lined up to develop Iraqi oil field. Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 8th November: Slavneft, the Russian-Belarusian oil company, has signed a preliminary agreement with the Iraqi government to take part in the development of Iraq's Subba oil field. A protocol of intent that sets out scenarios for terms of a contract on the development of the field was signed last week during a visit to Iraq by a Slavneft delegation, the company's vice-president, Andrey Shtorkh, told Interfax on Wednesday [8th November]. The document was signed by Slavneft president Mikhail Gutseriyev and Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister Fayiz Shahin. Shtorkh, citing commercial secrets, declined to disclose the details of the agreement, but said the company expects to sign a contract on the development of the field before the end of the year. The Subba field, which is located 400 km from the Iraqi port of Kirkuk, has oil reserves of 1bn barrels, he said. _______________________________________ Vice-president receives Hamas official Mish'al. Text of report by Iraqi TV on 8th November Vice-President Taha Yasin Ramadan has received Khalid Mish'al, head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, as well as other Hamas Political Bureau members. Taha Yasin Ramadan said that the battle of the Arab nation in Palestine and in Iraq against America and Zionism will be long and will keep going until the occupiers get out of Palestine, Palestine is liberated from the filth of the Zionists and the US administration stops to pursue hostile policies against the Iraqi people, stops interfering in the internal affairs of Arab states and stops striving to take control over the oil and to employ it to serve its own interests. The vice-president praised the fighter spirit of the Palestinian children and young men as they use stones to fight the Zionists tanks and missiles. He emphasized that Iraq believes in the Arab identify of Palestine from the river to sea. This, he added, has been reiterated by President Leader Saddam Husayn and it is not subject to bargaining or to portioning. Ramadan said that Iraq will continue to support its brothers in Palestine because it believe that this is a national obligation and not an assistance. ______________________________________________________ Bush? Gore? It makes no difference, says Iraq. BAGHDAD, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Iraq said on Wednesday it made no difference to Baghdad whether Republican George W. Bush or Democrat Al Gore wins the U.S. presidential election. "Whether the winner is Bush or Al Gore, the American stance ... would not change," Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz told reporters. "America allies itself with the Zionist entity (Israel) and it commits daily aggression against Iraq, imposes the (U.N.) embargo and kills the people of Iraq," Aziz said. Aziz was referring to U.S. and British warplanes which enforce no-fly zones in Iraq to protect a Kurdish enclave in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south from possible attacks by Baghdad troops. Aziz suggested Iraq's future did not depend on the identity of the winner. "We never bet on the results of the American elections and since the beginning we believe that the American ruling system would not change by changing the president," he said. The U.S. election cliffhanger threw the United States into a political limbo after Bush's apparent victory over Gore was put on ice for at least another day pending a recount in Florida. Iraq and the United States have been at loggerheads since Baghdad 1990's invasion of Kuwait. A U.S.-led military coalition ejected Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 1991 and Washington has supported strict U.N. sanctions against Baghdad ever since. Most Iraqis would not relish a victory by Bush as they remember the key role played by his father, former president George Bush, in orchestrating the 1990-91 coalition. ____________________________________________________ Baghdad says US, British jets bomb southern Iraq. BAGHDAD, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Iraq said on Wednesday U.S. and British planes struck targets in south of the country on Tuesday night but that no casualities were reported. An Iraqi military spokesman, quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency INA, said "enemy formations" flew over the provinces of Basra, Missan, Dhi qar, Muthanna, Qadissiya and Wassit at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Tuesday, attacking civilian and service installations in Basra province. He said Iraqi air defence units fired on the jets and forced them to return to their bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There was no immediate comment on the report by the United States or Britain, whose jets patrol no-fly zones set up by Western powers after the 1991 Gulf War. Western air raids on Iraq have become a regular occurrence since Baghdad decided in December 1998 to challenge U.S. and British jets patrolling northern and southern no-fly zones set up after the 1991 Gulf War. Iraq says 311 civilians have been killed and 927 wounded in these attacks. _______________________________________________________ Iraq Earns Another 389 Million Dollars in Weekly Oil Revenue. UNITED NATIONS, November 8 (Xinhua) - Iraq exported 14.8 million barrels of oil, earning 389 million U.S. dollars under the "oil-for-food" program in the week leading up to November 3, the United Nations Office of Iraq Program reported on Wednesday. The office said that over the past week, the United Nations committee monitoring the sanctions against Iraq approved two new contracts for the sale of Iraqi oil. The committee also released holds on 22 humanitarian contracts valued at 37.4 million dollars, but it placed new holds on 40 contracts worth 83.3 million, office said. According to the office, almost half of the contracts on hold, which now have a total value of some 2.3 billion dollars, cover transport and telecommunications. ____________________________________________________ Iraq Trade Fair Highlights Mortality Of UN Sanctions. BAGHDAD -(Dow Jones)-Iraq remains subject to decade-old United Nations trade sanctions, but increasingly it's the sanctions themselves that are under siege - as highlighted by this week's Baghdad International Trade Fair. Iraq and states sympathetic to its cause are chipping away at the U.N. regime in the hope that sanctions will eventually crumble. And turnout at the this year's fair, the highest since the Gulf War, shows the international eagerness to do business with Baghdad. "There are a lot more people getting involved," said Peter Stark, district manager with John Deere Ltd. (X.JDE). "The business is here. The need is here." Over 1,500 companies from 45 countries exhibited their wares in Baghdad this week - bringing everything from Dead Sea salts to tractors. While currently seeking contracts with Iraq to sell goods allowed under Iraq's oil-for-food deal, companies are also there to build relationships within Iraq that they hope will flourish when sanctions are lifted. Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Raghib paid an official visit to Baghdad last week, the highest-ranking Arab government official to do so in a decade. His visit came amid a growing number of flights landing at Saddam International Airport in defiance of sanctions. Some 17 foreign ministers will also attend the fair which runs Nov. 1-10. Fawzi Hussein al-Dahair, director-general for the Baghdad fair, said this year's attendance "means the door is opening." But the door is open just a crack. Al-Dahair said he doesn't expect the U.S. or U.K. to vote sanctions away in the U.N. Security Council. Sanctions require Iraq to submit to U.N. weapons inspections, and a source close to the Iraqi government said there is virtually no chance of that happening. At the same time, al-Dahair and other government officials are optimistic. Iraq's economy will continue its gradual recovery while Iraq is selling all the oil it can produce and buying humanitarian supplies through the U.N. oil-for-food program, they say. Plans to increase oil production help spur that optimism. The country plans to raise output to 3.5 million barrels a day from 3.0 million b/d by the end of next year. However, the increase depends on the delivery of oil sector spare parts through the oil-for-food program, which allows Iraq to import $1.2 billion worth of oil equipment a year. While foreign oil companies are barred from developing Iraq's oil reserves - the world's second-largest proven reserves - they are working on ways to get more from Iraq's existing wells within the oil-for-food deal. Claude Gadelle, deputy director of the French Petroleum Institute, said he was in Iraq to discuss how to improve oil recovery from existing fields. With French technology, Gadelle said, Iraq could lift oil output to 4.5 million b/d. "We will keep seeking all opportunities to find the partners from other countries...to help us in fulfilling our plans concerning the development of our oil sector with the aim of increasing our production in spite of the attitudes of others," said Taha Hmud Mosa, senior deputy oil minister. Washington may be too distracted by its presidential elections, or too politically weak in the region, to offer more than token resistance to the small but significant dents undermining the sanctions policy it so staunchly supports. But U.S. officials maintain that despite "perforation" of the embargo, its key element - U.N. control over Iraqi oil revenues - remains in place. tel: +44 (0)20 7403 5200 fax: +44 (0)20 7403 3823 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.mariamappeal.com
