IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 159 Thursday, November 23 2000 LATEST NEWS++++++VHS copies of the film 'Big Ben to Baghdad', the epic account of last year's journey in a 37-year-old Routemaster bus from London to the capital of sanctions-engulfed Iraq. The 65-minute-film costs £9.99 from the Mariam Appeal, 13a Borough High Street, London+++++++++++++++++LATEST ______________________________________________________ Iran joins Arab rush to Baghdad. Iraq and Iran have stepped up efforts to restore full diplomatic relations. The moves by the two countries, which went to war between 1980 and 1988, coincide with plans by Syria and Egypt to upgrade ties. Egypt said in early November flags would fly at the respective missions reopened at the charge d'affaires level. Several senior-level meetings have been held between Iran and Iraq and a transport and communications agreement was signed on 6 November. Iranian officials have also suggested that any Iraqi request for a return of Iraqi Airways planes, which took refuge across the border during the 1991 Gulf war, will be considered favourably, provided the UN sanctions committee gives its approval. Some 50 Iranian firms attended the November Baghdad international trade fair. Several firms said they had orders for hundreds of tractors and cranes, although transactions would need UN approval. Most of Iraqi Airways' fleet of US-built aircraft took refuge in Iran in 1991. The aircraft have been gathering dust at various airports across the country, and technical difficulties might prevent their return. Middle East Economic Digest _____________________________________________________ US weather and Iraqi demands encourage markets. Oil prices were in mid-November threatening to return to their recent highs on predictions of cold weather in the US and fears that Iraq may hold back some exports. The upward trend was encouraged by a decision by OPEC ministers on 13 November to postpone a decision on output levels until 17 January. OPEC also elected a new secretary-general for the next three years (see Seven Days). A cold front was in mid-November heading for the US northeast, where heating oil stocks are about 40 per cent below 1999 levels. The US remains concerned about supply shortages despite views by market analysts and by OPEC that crude supplies would exceed demand in the coming months. OPEC ministers have expressed fears that continued production increases could bring about a market collapse after the winter. Some ministers have said output cuts may be required in the second quarter of 2001, to keep prices within the preferred range of $22-28 a barrel. Iraq, which supplies about 5 per cent of the world's crude exports, informed its customers in mid-month that from 1 December it wants a $0.50 premium paid on each barrel of crude outside the UN-controlled accounts. Most oil companies say they will be unable to comply with the demand because it would mean circumventing UN sanctions. Middle East Economic Digest _____________________________________________________ INDIA APPROACHES UN ON FOODGRAIN/OIL EXCHANGE WITH IRAQ. NEW DELHI, Nov 23, Asia Pulse - India has approached the United Nations for permission to exchange foodgrains for oil with Iraq, which is facing sanctions from the international community, federal petroleum and natural gas minister Ram Naik says. Replying to a supplementary during Question Hour, the minister said since Iraq was facing sanctions from the international community, it was not possible for India to import crude oil from that country. However, food and grain could be exchanged on humanitarian grounds and India had approached the UN in this regard, Naik said. _____________________________________________________ Iraq threatens to stop UN-authorized oil exports. Baghdad (AFP)-23Nov2000/318 am EST/818 GMT Iraq threatened Thursday to halt its UN-authorised oil exports unless the UN sanctions committee lifted its "holds" on Baghdad's import contracts. "We, the Iraqi people, are thinking seriously that...we should stop exporting oil, at least until the 661 (sanctions) committee releases the 'on-hold' Iraq contracts so that we can benefit from our exported oil," said the "Baghdad Observer". The official daily, in an editorial, was referring to the UN oil-for-food program under which Iraq is authorized to export crude under strict UN supervision to finance imports of essential goods. The program, launched in December 1996, is run in six-monthly phases, the latest of which expires on Dec 5. ______________________________________________________ Iran armed opposition unit arrested near Iraq. Tehran (AFP)-23Nov2000/222 am EST/722 GMT A team of Iran's main armed opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen, was arrested by intelligence officials in the western Lorestan province close to Iraq, the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday. According to the report, the team had "intended to create unrest" in the city of Borujerd on Nov 11-the birthday of Shiite Islam's 12th imam, believed to be the messiah who will return to establish justice on earth. The report gave no further details on the number of people arrested or the circumstances. The Mujahedeen regularly claims attacks inside the Islamic republic, and their presence in Iraq is a stumbling block to the normalization of relations between Tehran and Baghdad, who have not signed a peace treaty after their 1980-1988 war. ______________________________________________________ Iraq's Deputy PM Tareq Aziz set to visit China. BEIJING, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz will visit China on Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said. "When he is here he will brief the Chinese side on developments in Iraq and exchange views on how to further develop bilateral relations," Sun told a news conference on Thursday. Sun also appeared to back a resumption of flights to Iraq by several countries in defiance of a U.N. embargo, describing this as "very normal". France and Russia, to protest against decade-old sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, have sent in humanitarian flights to Iraq since it reopened Baghdad airport in September. "We have also taken note that the resolutions of the UN Security Council have never banned civil flights to Iraq," Sun said. China has always supported an end to sanctions on Iraq but also says Iraq should comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions. ____________________________________________________ Iraq awaits U.N. word on December oil price ideas. DUBAI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Iraq will wait to see whether the United Nations rejects its December crude oil price proposals on Monday before deciding its next step, an Iraqi oil official said on Thursday. Diplomats on the U.N. Iraqi sanctions committee said they will reject state oil marketer SOMO's proposals for December oil prices because they are too low. Asked if SOMO would revise its prices should they be rejected, the Iraqi oil official said, "we have to see." If spurned by the U.N., it would be only the second rejection of Iraq's proposed monthly prices since the oil-for-food programme began in December 1996. Baghdad then revised its price. The committee's 15 members have until Monday at 10 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) to decide whether SOMO's proposed December prices reflect fair market value. But that looks unlikely. The U.N. oil overseers already have advised the committee that "the suggested prices are below market levels" and "do not represent fair market value." Iraq wants prices for Kirkuk shipped to Europe to drop 30 cents (Dated Brent - $3.50); Basrah Light to the United Sates down 90 cents (second-month WTI - $8.50); Basrah Light to the Far East down 15 cents (Oman/Dubai - $1.35); Kirkuk to the United States down 65 cents (first-month WTI-$7.05); and Basrah Light to Europe down 45 cents (Dated Brent - $4.55). _______________________________________________________ Iraq Sends Oil Through Pipeline to Syria, Says it Was Only a Test. UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. said it has received assurances that Syria isn't illegally importing oil from Iraq, although Iraq is getting its pipeline to Syria ready for export, the Associated Press reported. A Syrian oil-industry source, speaking in Damascus on condition of anonymity, told the AP that 150,000 barrels of oil pumped from the Iraqi city of Mosul arrived Wednesday in Baniyas, Syria, the Mediterranean terminal of the pipeline. But the source said the oil wasn't for export and was pumped purely to test the pipeline. The head of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq, Benon Sevan, received similar assurances from the Iraqi and Syrian missions on Wednesday, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said, according to the AP. "The Iraqis deny that they are exporting oil through the newly reopened pipeline to Syria, saying that they are simply taking the necessary measures to get it ready for the eventual export of oil," Mr. Eckhard added. "The Syrian mission informed the Iraq Program that they are not importing oil through the pipeline." Great Britain, nevertheless, has asked for an urgent meeting of the U.N. sanctions committee on Iraq to take up the matter of the Syrian pipeline and the recent gift of an airplane to Iraq from a Qatari national. British officials said the gift violated sanctions barring countries from selling or supplying such goods to the Iraqi leadership, the AP reported. Unauthorized Syrian imports of Iraqi crude via the pipeline would also violate U.N. sanctions since the U.N. has only authorized Iraq to export oil at two ports - the Turkish Mediterranean port at Ceyhan and at Mina al-Bakr, Iraq's offshore platform in the Persian Gulf. Security Council members have said they would consider adding another export route, but only if the pipeline is approved and if the export revenue falls under the U.N. oil-for-food program. "That would mean that the payments would go under U.N. control in order to ensure that the money is used for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people," said U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. Source: DOW JONES BUSINESS NEWS 23/11/2000 ______________________________________________________ LUKoil to work in Iraq only within UN sanctions - Alekperov. NOVOROSSIISK, Nov 22 /Prime-TASS/ - LUKoil will work in Iraq on development of West Qurna only within the UN sanctions, LUKoil head Vagit Alekperov has stated on Wednesday. He has told journalists that "LUKoil has bent and will bend every effort to develop the oilfield in the framework of the sanctions." At the same time, he has marked that the operation regulated by the sanctions demonstrates not the position of LUKoil, but of Russia that signed the related UN resolution. According to the LUKoil head, the Iraqi party did not raise at the talks with the Russian Foreign Minister the issue of the participants in West Qurna project. ______________________________________________________ $1 BILLION POTENTIAL EXCHANGES VOLUME WITH IRAQ. According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper (November 19, 2000), the Jordanian Industry Minister, Mr. Wassef Azer, estimates at $1 billion the potential commercial exchanges volume between Jordan and Iraq. The minister added that there are three alternatives for the Jordanian exporters who wish to invade the Iraqi markets: the bilateral trade protocol which is valued at $450 million in 2000, the Oil for Food Memorandum of Understanding between Iraq and the UN, in addition to exchanges between the private sectors from both states. _____________________________________________________ Iraq oil prices too low, will be rejected, diplomats say. NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council's Iraqi sanctions committee will reject Iraq's proposals for December oil prices because they are too low, diplomats on the committee said Wednesday. Iraq has low-balled the prices, diplomats say, in an apparent attempt to keep oil prices attractive if Iraq carries through with plans to add a 50-cent per barrel surcharge on its crude shipped from Dec. 1. The U.N. oil overseers advised the committee that "The suggested prices are below market levels," and further that they "do not represent fair market value," diplomats said. If rejected, it would be only the second rejection of Iraq's proposed monthly prices since the oil-for-food program began in December 1996. The committee's 15 member nations have until Monday at 10 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) to reject the proposals. ______________________________________________ Switzerland to Open Mission in Iraq. GENEVA, November 22 (Xinhua) - Switzerland is to open a liaison office for economic and cultural activities nine years after its embassy in Baghdad was closed during the Gulf War. Announcing the government decision on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss said that the closure of the Swiss embassy in Iraq during the Gulf War had led to a lack of first-hand information about what was going on inside the country. Deiss said that two Swiss diplomats would be stationed in Baghdad to collect information and to monitor the humanitarian and human rights situation. Swiss Radio International quoted a foreign ministry spokeswoman as saying that there are no plans to send an ambassador to Baghdad. The new liaison office will also be responsible for representing Swiss economic interests and issuing visas. The ministry also said that Swiss companies exporting food, medicines and other goods to Iraq, as part of a United Nations special program, were at a disadvantage compared to those in other European countries. Exports are carried out under the 1995 U.N. Security Council Resolution which lets Baghdad sell oil for humanitarian supplies. Switzerland never severed its diplomatic ties with Iraq, but closed its office for security reasons during the Gulf war. _____________________________________________ Kuwait intercepts Iranian-flagged ship in "violation" of Iraq sanctions. Text of report in English by Kuwaiti news agency Kuna web site Kuwait, 22nd November: Kuwaiti coast guards intercepted a wooden ship carrying the Iranian flag inside territorial waters in yet another violation of UN economic sanctions against Iraq, an official statement said Wednesday [22nd November]. The Interior Ministry did not specify whether the ship was sailing to or from Iraq, but said it was loaded with 360 tonnes of dates and all 13 Iranian crew were arrested. _______________________________________________ Dubai-based airline calls off start of flights to Iraq. Dubai (AFP)-22Nov2000/1139 am EST/1639 GMT A Dubai-based airline called off a first flight to Baghdad Wednesday that was to launch a regular service to and from sanctions-hit Iraq, after failing to win UN authorisation. Iran cleared the plane to use its airspace, but the UN sanctions committee refused to authorise the first flight, said Shafiqa Buzar, legal advisor of the airline, Nada Al-Sharq International. The airline is headed by Sheikh Maktoum bin Hasher bin Mana al-Maktoum, a member of Dubai's ruling family. The plane was to have left from Dubai's neighboring emirate of Sharjah with 120 passengers on board, including leading Emirati figures and Iraq's consul in the UAE, Mohammad Yussef al-Azzawi. It was to carry humanitarian aid of medicine and medical equipment for Iraq, which has been under UN sanctions, including an air embargo, since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. ______________________________________________ Iraq blasts Saudi minister's defense of no-fly zones. Baghdad (AFP)-22Nov2000/1232 pm EST/1732 GMT Iraq's information ministry on Wednesday blasted a Saudi minister's defense of the no-fly zones enforced by the US and Britain over most of the country. "The allegations of the Saudi minister are totally unfounded and nothing but gratuitous and flagrant lies," an information ministry spokesman said, quoted by the official news agency INA. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz spoke in favor of the zones during a meeting with his US counterpart William Cohen last weekend. "The present no-fly zones only serve peace, and it is not a Saudi decision," he said. The zones are imposed over both southern and northern Iraq with the declared aim of protecting the Shiites and Kurds of the two regions, as well as to prevent Iraq's military from posing a threat to its neighours. ______________________________________________ Iraq may allow U.N. inspectors back - Saudi paper. DUBAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Iraq has told several countries and the United Nations that it would allow international arms inspectors back if their mission was short and it would lead to a lifting of U.N. sanctions, a Saudi daily said on Wednesday. Al-Watan newspaper quoted diplomatic sources as saying Iraq has also told the world body, France, Russia and other countries that the inspectors' mission should not be provocative and should respect Iraq's sovereignty. It said Iraq also asked for a lifting of international control over its revenues from the sale of crude oil once the sanctions are lifted. "The Iraqi leadership hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding with (U.N. Secretary General) Kofi Annan...which would spell out the basis and conditions for cooperation between Iraq and the United Nations and the nature of the mission of international inspectors," the newspapers quoted unnamed European and Arab diplomats as saying. ______________________________________________ Western aircraft shot down in Iraq. The Iraqi anti-aircraft units shot down an aircraft of the western alliance on Tuesday, says a military communique, which was published in Baghdad on Wednesday. It does not say whether it was an American or British fighter that was hit by an Iraqi missile. The document says that the heavy barrage fire of Iraqi anti-aircraft gunners and missilemen forced the enemy planes to withdraw. It claims that the air force of the so-called multinational forces made eight intrusions into the airspace of Iraq on Tuesday in the area of D'hok and Arbil (Northern Iraq). Taking part in the raids were aircraft equipped with AWACS systems. Some southern territories of Iraq were also overflown near Basrah, Maysan, Karbala and Najaf. Beginning from December 17, 1998, when the Desert Fox operation was launched, the American-British Air Force flew more than 27,000 combat and reconnaissance missions, patrolling the "no-fly zones" in the northern and southern parts of Iraq. It is worth noting that Baghdad does not recognise these zones. TASS __________________________________________ Arab States Bringing Iraq Back Into Fold. By Howard Schneider. Sympathy, Oil Prices Are Eroding Sanctions Washington Post Foreign Service As if stepping off a plane at Baghdad's airport was not unusual enough, Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb said that what he saw there showed the extent to which American-backed international sanctions are slipping in the face of Arab and other efforts to end Iraq's isolation. Seven other planes that had carried visiting dignitaries stood parked on the tarmac of the suddenly bustling Saddam International Airport. Hotels were full of officials and businessmen hoping to build ties and snare contracts, including Jordanians led by Ragheb, the highest ranking Arab leader to visit Iraq since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The country was mobilizing dozens of truckloads of food and medical supplies to help Palestinians engaged in new violence with Israel. And, in another at least symbolic example of improving conditions in a country that has often complained about shortages of basic medical and other goods, the Jordanian said he was able to quickly replace the blood pressure medicine he forgot to bring with him. After weathering years of scarcity, Iraq is riding a resurgence in the price of oil and in its own political fortunes in the Arab world and beyond, with its government intact and with new opportunities to battle for a lifting of the international sanctions imposed at the start of the Persian Gulf War a decade ago. Arab leaders, most of whom joined the military alliance that evicted Iraq from Kuwait, are showing an increasing willingness to rehabilitate the country even with President Saddam Hussein still in control. Their people are demanding it, particularly when the Iraqi president's anti-Israel rhetoric has struck a chord during weeks of Palestinian-Israeli violence. The image of American and British planes patrolling northern and southern Iraq, ostensibly to protect rebel Kurdish and Shiite populations, is contrasted with U.S. opposition to international intervention on behalf of the Palestinians, a popular example of what people here view as the American double standard. In addition, there is diminishing faith among Arab officials that U.S. policy makes sense toward a country they regard as militarily weakened, and which for their own economic, political and cultural reasons they would like to reinvigorate. Iraq "has suffered enough, and the Arab countries feel ... that Iraq should be reengaged," the Jordanian prime minister said in a recent interview. "Are the sanctions eroding? Yes.... We feel they are becoming ridiculous." Jordan has a particular interest at stake. It needs trade with Iraq to support an economy that has yet to realize the benefits of business with Israel or the West that were promised when the late King Hussein made peace with the Jewish state. It also relies on Iraq for cut-rate oil, a fact the Iraqis have used to pressure their economically weaker neighbor. But it is not just Jordan making the case. Iran and Syria, military and political nemeses of the Iraqi government, have stepped up talks with Baghdad, and Syrian officials told reporters today that Iraqi oil resumed flowing in a pipeline to Syria Thursday, reaching 150,000 barrels a day. Still wary of Iraq's military designs, Saudi Arabia has nevertheless reopened a land border with the country to facilitate truck traffic, another step toward normal relations. Egypt, a key U.S. ally in the region, recently hoisted its flag again in Baghdad, a signal that the country's downgraded consular section there will be restored to full diplomatic status. Iraq "will soon be integrated into the Arab fold," said President Hosni Mubarak. "It's only a matter of time now." Although there is nothing about the United Nations-imposed sanctions that prevents diplomatic and even economic ties from expanding, such sentiments strike at the political credibility of the U.S. containment policy implemented after the Gulf War. Sanctions are a critical part of the strategy, aimed at preventing Hussein from using the country's oil wealth to rebuild his military or invest in biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. Under U.N. resolutions, international weapons inspectors are supposed to certify the country is complying with restrictions on its weapons programs before sanctions are lifted. In fact, the sanctions have been progressively loosened over the past 10 years in response to international concern about Iraq's skyrocketing disease rates, malnutrition and other humanitarian problems. Over the same period, Hussein's government tried to conceal its weapons programs from U.N. inspectors and was forced to cooperate when the concealment was revealed by a defector. Then, in 1998, Iraq effectively kicked out the inspectors-a move that triggered four days of intense U.S. airstrikes on suspected weapons sites. U.S. officials still argue that Iraq maintains weapons programs that must be monitored if they are not to threaten the region. And they note that the basics of the sanctions program remain intact, and largely respected. The country's purchases of equipment, chemicals, industrial goods and a host of other items are still monitored by international officials and subject to embargo if it is determined they have a potential military use. The controls are outlandishly picayune according to Iraq and its supporters, vital to international security according to the United States. However, Western and U.S. diplomats throughout the region consider the events of recent months a possible precursor to more blatant sanctions-busting, and a boost to diplomatic and political moves to lift the sanctions. Already the effectiveness of the sanctions is questioned, as is the ability of the United Nations to resolve a nearly three-year deadlock over whether weapons inspectors will be allowed to return. Iraq is earning more money from oil than ever. It has the benefit of cash from smuggled exports to pursue the military programs the sanctions are supposed to prohibit. In such a situation, there is little incentive for compromise. Arab leaders, out of deference to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, have for years maintained an ambiguous stand toward Iraq. But sympathetic to the hardships that sanctions have imposed on the Iraqi people, they also largely blame Hussein for the country's plight. That has not fully changed. Jordan, Egypt and others, along with Iraq's main backers on the U.N. Security Council, France and Russia, are pushing Iraq to accept the weapons inspectors again, even as they build new diplomatic and economic bridges with Baghdad. But there is little doubt that regional trends favor Iraq. When the Arab summit convened here last month, it was for the first time in a decade joined by both Kuwait and Iraq, a sign Arab observers said showed that anger over Palestinian-Israeli violence could supersede other regional tensions. When the broader Organization of the Islamic Conference convened in Qatar last week, diplomatic efforts on behalf of Iraq continued, with the host nation joining other small Persian Gulf countries to press for a reconciliation. Some progress may have been made. The final statement dropped its traditional reference to "Iraqi aggression" and called for efforts to "prepare the ground for resolving the differences." The Iraqis may have begun to show some movement as well. Though they have said repeatedly that U.N. weapons teams would never return, at a meeting last week with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, they agreed to a review of the situation "without preconditions." Whether the discussions between Annan and the Iraqis will offer a chance to change the situation is far from certain. International diplomats, noting Iraq's frequently erratic diplomatic strategy, say it may be a "hill of beans"-an effort to gain advantage at a time of high oil prices and regional instability. Either way, pressure will likely continue to build against a policy some Arabs view as part of American efforts to control the region rather than to solve its problems. "There is a clear sense that Iraq is being punished," said Jordanian businessman Labib Kamhawi. "There is no policy. Keeping sanctions is not a policy." ______________________________________________ South Korea beats UAE in Asian youth soccer. Dubai - South Korea revived their hope of reaching the Youth World Cup Finals defeating UAE 4 -2 in the Asian youth soccer championship, held in Tehran. It was the third successive defeat for tournament favourites, UAE, who are now lying at the bottom of group 'B' without a single point. They play the last group match against China on Tuesday. Iraq topped group 'B' with seven points blaking Pakistan 6-0 at Sherodi stadium yesterday. The Iraq - South Korea match will decide the qualifier to the Finals. Even a draw is enough for Iraq, while the Koreans must beat Iraq to reach the finals. China, with seven points, also have a good chance to qualify if they win or draw against UAE tomorrow. Middle East Intelligence Wire ______________________________________________ Iraq's Aziz receives Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine delegation. Text of report by Iraqi TV on 21st November Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has received a delegation from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP], led by Abu-Ahmad Fu'ad, member of the PFLP political bureau. During the meeting, Aziz expressed the determination of Iraq - leadership and people - to offer all forms of support for the Palestinian intifadah until victory and the liberation of all Palestinian soil. _________________________________________ Over 2m Russians call for lifting of Iraq sanctions. More than two million Russians back a lifting of international sanctions imposed on Iraq, the head of the Committee for International Cultural, Scientific and Business Co-operation, Aram Shegunts, said on Tuesday. The committee held a signature-collection campaign in September and October in several former Soviet republics, and more than two million people took part in it, Shegunts said. The questionnaires were sent to the U.N. Security Council today with the assistance of the Russian Foreign Ministry, he added. The official said he hoped the U.N. would consider the Russians' opinion while discussing a lifting of the blockade. An international conference with the participation of Russian. Iraqi, British and U.S. public organisations will be held in the Armenian capital Yerevan in mid-December, he said. The meeting will also be attended by lawmakers from the four nations, he said. The gathering will address the humanitarian situation in Iraq and ways to suspend and stop the international embargo. Itar/Tass ______________________________________________ MISCELLANY Dear all, As you are hopefully all aware, yesterday saw the launch of the UK's new National Petition against Sanctions on Iraq. Full details and copies of the petition are at http://www.notinournames.org.uk A number of sponsoring organisations were found prior to the launch of the petition, and they are listed on the petition. However, it is hoped that the list of sponsors can continue to grow throughout the lifetime of the petition, and in particular it would be good to persuade some really big and well known organisations to sponsor it. Is anyone on this list willing to take on the role of trying to persuade more organisations (or 'famous' individuals) to become sponsors of the petition? This would simply involve contacting organisations who we think might be willing, and asking if they would agree to be listed as a sponsor. None of the people who sought out the original list of sponsors has time to work on this at the moment. Please let me know if you're interested. best wishes, Seb ------------------------------------------------------------ Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq: www.casi.org.uk _______________________________________________ Dear Friend You are cordially invited to a meeting organised by the British Afro-Asian Solidarity Organisation (BAASO): THE IMPACT OF SANCTIONS ON IRAQ EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT AND FILM SHOW Date: Wednesday 29th November Time: 6.30p.m. Venue: Committee Room 9, House of Commons, London, SW1 (St. Stephen's Entrance) Room booked in the name of Jeremy Corbyn MP Nearest tube: Westminster Father Jean-Marie Benjamin, a Catholic priest from Italy who has travelled extensively in Iraq, will screen his documentary film and present his eyewitness account of the suffering of the people of Iraq after a decade of sanctions. A number of MPs have also been invited to address the meeting. Further details from BAASO on: 0208 789 6503 tel: +44 (0)20 7403 5200 fax: +44 (0)20 7403 3823 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.mariamappeal.com
