IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 153
Friday, November 10, 2000
HISTORIC EDITION++++++++HISTORY IS MADE
LATEST+++++Galloway and crew break the British sanctions embargo with daring
early-morning flight into Iraq++++++++++++++++LATEST
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First British Sanctions-Buster Lands in Baghdad
The first peaceful British flight in more than a decade defied the
government and touched down in Iraq at around 4.30am, GMT, today (Friday).
On board the plane were the Labour MP - and Mariam Appeal founder - George
Galloway and seven others, including the hereditary peer Lord Rea and the
Catholic priest, Father Noel Barry.
The plane, an Air Dassault Falcon 50, flew under the cover of darkness and
subterfuge from Manston airfield in Kent. The sanctions-busting flight was
paid for by private donations to the Mariam Appeal. The flight was
deliberately not a humanitarian one - no drugs or other supplies were on
board - but was intended to focus world attention on the plight of the
people of Iraq.
"We don't accept that there are any legal UN sanction against passenger
flights into Iraq, as the British and American governments maintain, but I
do accept that we have committed an offence in Britain by not informing the
DTi of our flight plan or allowing inspectors to check out the plane" said
George Galloway. "I hope that the government won't take action against us
but if they do then we'll relish our days in court."
At the same time as the plane landed a letter giving details of the flight
was being handed in to the Foreign Office minister Peter Hain. The letter,
from George Galloway, says in part: "We have made this journey to
demonstrate the widespread and growing opposition in the United Kingdom to
the continuing embargo...As you know, my view is that there is no
requirement for any UN Sanctions Committee approval for this flight and
there is no breach of any international legal requirement."
The British Foreign Office, in an embarrassing volte face on previous
policy, latger claimed that the flight had 'exploited a loophole' in the
sanctions regulations.
George is expected to stay in Iraq for several days before traveling back to
Britain, overland, for the premiere of the Mariam Appeal film, Big Ben to
Baghdad, on November 16. The film will be shown at the School of Oriental
and African Studies at 6.30pm.
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Indian MPs ask Annan to lift curbs on Iraq
>From THE TIMES OF INDIA, November 10th, 2000
NEW DELHI: Cutting across party lines, 129 MPs from both Houses on Thursday
urged UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to lift the UN embargo on Iraq.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, Indrajit Gupta, Mayawati, Jaipal Reddy and S.R. Bommai
are some of the prominent signatories of the letter which was sent to Annan.
The MPs in their letter have referred to a shocking UNICEF study which
reported that the UN embargo has resulted in the death of over five lakh
children under the age of five in Iraq. Other independent studies by US,
French and British NGOs also pointed out that lakhs of Iraqi citizens have
died of shortage of food and medicine in the wake of UN sanctions, the MPs
argued.
Despite Iraq complying with the UN resolutions, the embargo continues at a
``horrible human cost,'' the MPs said expressing grave concern, and sought
an end to the periodical attacks against Iraq which violate principles of
sovereignty and independence of Iraq. They said the sanctions have crippled
one of the richest nations of West Asia.
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Britons fly to Iraq to protest sanctions.
LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - A group of British politicians and a Roman
Catholic priest flew to Baghdad on Friday in what they said was the first
peaceful British flight to Iraq in a decade to protest decade-old U.N.
sanctions.
The flight followed similar flights from Arab and non-Arab countries. It was
not approved by the British government and did not carry humanitarian aid.
Like previous anti-sanction flights, the eight-strong British delegation
exploited a loophole in a 1990 U.N. Security Council resolution on the
sanctions.
"We don't accept that there are any U.N. sanctions against passenger flights
into Iraq as British and American governments maintain," George Galloway, a
member of parliament for the ruling Labour Party said in a statement on
landing in Iraq.
"But I do accept that we have committed an offence in Britain by not
informing the Department of Trade and Industry of our flight plan," he
added. "I hope the government won't take action against us but if they do
then we'll relish our days in court."
The United States shows no sign of relenting on the sanctions, saying Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein must first allow U.N. weapons inspectors to resume
checks to ensure he is not reviving his chemical, biological or nuclear
weapons programmes.
The weapons inspectors have not been able to work in Iraq since late 1998.
They were withdrawn before Britain and the United States launched a four-day
air blitz on Iraq.
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Iraq wants control over some of its oil revenues.
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Iraq asked the United Nations on Thursday if it
could control some of the oil revenues that flow through the U.N.
humanitarian program, apparently trying to gain advantage in its fight over
decade-old U.N. sanctions.
Baghdad, which has recently switched from using dollars to the single
European currency for its oil deals, wants control over 1.5 euros from each
barrel of crude oil it sells through the U.N. oil-for-food program to cover
production costs.
At current currency rates and Iraqi oil export prices, 1.5 euros per barrel
would amount to more than $1 billion a year.
The money would be deposited in a bank account of Iraq's choosing, according
to a letter from Baghdad's U.N. Ambassador Saeed Hasan, obtained by Reuters.
The account would be designated by the Iraqi State Oil Marketing
Organization (SOMO) "to meet the costs of the production, transportation and
exportation of oil, the maintenance of oil-related installations and other
essential expenditures within Iraq," Hasan said.
The oil-for-food program, an exception to the sanctions, forces purchasers
of Iraqi oil to place revenues in a special U.N. escrow account. The money
is used to pay suppliers of humanitarian and other goods ordered by Iraq to
alleviate the impact of the U.N. embargo, imposed after Baghdad invaded
Kuwait in August 1990.
Control of most of Iraq's revenues by the U.N. Security Council is key to
maintaining the sanctions. Council diplomats said they were not certain of
all the aspects of Iraq's proposal but expected it to be rejected,
particularly by the United States and Britain.
The latest Iraqi request followed a letter released on Wednesday from
Baghdad's deputy prime minister, Tareq Aziz, who questioned the entire
oil-for-food program, saying Iraq had more than $11 billion in funds at the
BNP Paribas bank that were "idle and frozen."
With the world concerned about increases in oil prices, Aziz issued a veiled
threat to cut off petroleum exports.
"One has to wonder what use it is and what need there is to pump oil in a
situation such as this," he said in the letter.
Aziz noted more than $2 billion in contracts were "on hold," most of them by
the United States. Another 541 contracts worth $1.24 billion were submitted
but had yet to be circulated to members of the Security Council's Iraqi
sanctions committee.
"The Iraqis are either trying to whittle away at sanctions or they're
raising issues over which they intend to stop or suspend exports in order to
push the envelope on sanctions," said Jareer Elass, an analyst for
consultants Oil Navigator.
"Some people may think the United States is sleeping at the wheel and
allowing some erosion of sanctions, but (an Iraqi-controlled bank account of
oil revenue) is something they can't allow," Elass said.
A French diplomat said the council should allow some additional funding for
Iraq to maintain and boost oil production beyond the $1.2 billion it can
spend annually for spare parts and equipment.
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Row brews over Iraq request for control over revenues.
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Iraq's request that it be allowed to take
control of some oil revenues cuts to core issues on United Nations sanctions
and will not be approved, U.N. diplomats and oil analysts said Thursday.
Iraq has asked the United Nations for 1.5 euros from each barrel of crude
oil it sells in the U.N.-administered oil-for-food program to cover
Baghdad's oil production costs.
Under the plan, the money would be deposited in a bank account of Iraq's
choosing.
"That's not allowed by any (U.N. Security Council) resolution," said a U.S.
official.
It is Baghdad's intention that, "the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization
to incorporate in contracts for the sale of oil a provision to the effect
that the sum of 1.5 euros per barrel," Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Saeed Hasan
said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"(This) should be remitted to a special account designated by SOMO to meet
the costs of the production, transportation and exportation of oil, the
maintenance of oil-related installations and other essential expenditures
within Iraq."
At current currency exchange and Iraqi oil export rates, 1.5 euros per
barrel would amount to more than $1 billion a year.
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RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO MEET WITH HEAD OF NEW U.N. MONITORING COMMISSION
FOR IRAQ.
MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will meet
with Hans Blix, head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and
Inspection Commission for Iraq (UNMOVIC), in Moscow on Friday, diplomatic
sources in Moscow have told Interfax.
UNMOVIC was established to replace the former U.N. Special Committee, which
was charged with monitoring the elimination of weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq.
The sources did not rule out that Blix is visiting Moscow before a possible
visit by Ivanov to Iraq.
Moscow "favors the soonest lifting of sanctions from Iraq and the country's
return to normal life," Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier on
Thursday as he received credentials from foreign ambassadors.
The Iraqi problem can only be settled through political and diplomatic
means, Putin said.
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PUTIN REAFFIRMS MOSCOW'S WISH THAT SANCTIONS BE LIFTED FROM IRAQ.
MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) - Russia believes the Iraqi problem can only be
settled by political and diplomatic means, President Vladimir Putin said in
the Kremlin on Thursday as he received credentials from foreign ambassadors.
Cooperation between Russia and Iraq was close and multifaceted, Putin said,
stressing that Moscow "favors the soonest lifting of sanctions from Iraq and
the country's return to normal life."
"The idea is gaining an increasing number of supporters at the United
Nations," he said. Russia will also assist a comprehensive settlement in the
Middle East, Putin said. "A key task of Russia's foreign policy is the
transformation of the Persian Gulf into a zone of peace and stability," he
said.
HISTORY IS MADE!!!!!!!_________________________
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