>problem caused by the embargo. > >Therefore, the Jordanian government studied the situation in Iraq and >decided to send a large medical delegation on a humanitarian flight. The >plane will leave Amman tomorrow >carrying quantities of medicine, particularly drugs needed by >Iraq for heart diseases, hypertension, cancer and diabetes. The situation in >Iraq made us, particularly the public and private medical sectors as well as >the popular and women sectors, extend this aid to Iraq so that Iraq will not >be kept away from modern medical information. Thus, the Iraqi citizens will >be able to receive treatment for diseases they cannot deal with under the >embargo. > >[Q] Have you contacted other Arab countries? Do you expect Arab or US >opposition to this trip, as the United States did towards the Russian and >French planes? > >[A] We expect the Arab countries to follow in Jordan's footsteps. Extending >aid to our brothers in Iraq should not be confined to foreigners. The >brothers should vie for the >extension of such aid. Jordan took all the necessary measures as demanded >internationally in order to conduct this trip. > >Therefore, Jordan has not violated any decision and does not wish to do so. >It is only undertaking a humanitarian action to >support our brothers in Iraq. We expect our Arab brothers to extend all >forms of aid to the brothers in Iraq as we are doing. >In fact, this is not the first time Jordan sends a plane to Iraq. It >conducted a similar medical flight for Jordanian >physicians in 1998. A Royal Jordanian plane was also used by US medical >quarters to fly to Iraq. Therefore, we are doing this >within the humanitarian, national, and pan-Arab framework as well as the >national Jordanian interests that link us to our >brothers in Iraq. >Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 2103 gmt 26 Sep 00 > > >Jordanian athlete bows out of trip to Iraq to secure spot on Kuwaiti team > >AMMAN, Sept 27 (AFP) - A member of Jordan's national basketball team >expected to join the first Arab flight to Baghdad on Wednesday excused >himself from the trip because he was about to secure a contract with a >Kuwaiti team. > >Star basketballer Nasser Bassam, who was expected to play in a friendly >match with the Iraqi team on Thursday in Baghdad, told the Jordanian >federation at the last minute that he cannot go to Iraq, federation sources >said. > >The federation decided not to press Bassam because he is currently >negotiating a contract with a Kuwaiti club, the sources said. > >Kuwait had accused Jordan of backing Iraq in the 1991 Gulf war, when Amman >stayed out of an international US-led force to drive Iraqi troops from the >tiny Gulf emirate, which it invaded in August 1990. > >But ties were back on course in March 1999, with Jordan reopening its >embassy in Kuwait City, and Kuwait reciprocating shortly afterward. > >Also last September King Abdullah II visited Kuwait, becoming the first >Jordanian monarch to visit the tiny emirate since 1990. > >Jordan, which depends totally on crude oil supplies from Iraq, its main >trading partner before the Gulf war, is sending a "solidarity flight" to >Iraq >later Wednesday with several cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and doctors > >aboard. > >The first will be the first by an Arab country following flights from >Russia and France despite an air embargo on Iraq. > > >Iraq Press: Saddam meant no threat to `stupid` Gulf leaders [B] >By Agence France-Presse Baghdad--Sept. 27--Iraqi President Saddam Hussein >meant no threat to the "stupid" leaders of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia when he >warned of a confrontation, Iraq's leading newspaper said Wednesday. "Iraq >did not threaten the leaders of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia but spelt out their >responsibility in the daily military aggression to which it is subjected >from their territory," said Babel, run by Saddam's eldest son, Uday. > >* * * "Saddam Hussein reminded these stupid leaders that if they persist in >the aggression against Iraq, they will exhaust the patience of Iraqis, >increasing the pressure on the leadership (for a retaliation), which it does >not want." The Iraqi leader on Monday hit out at both Kuwait and Saudi >Arabia, accusing them of trying to provoke Baghdad. > >"Iraq does not want confrontation with them, but they come to attack us in >our own home," the Iraqi president told his cabinet in a speech, referring >to US and British air strikes launched from Saudi and Kuwaiti bases. >Saddam said he hoped the people of the two Gulf Arab monarchies would tell >their governments: "You are putting the Iraqis into such a position that >they are forced to attack you." Kuwait said Tuesday it has taken "all >necessary precautions" in reaction to Saddam's speech, which also drew a >sharp warning from Washington. > >"US forces, British forces--we are prepared to take whatever action is >necessary to make sure that he does not attack his neighbors or attack his >own people," US Defense Secretary William Cohen said. > >Iraq's Aziz leaves Syria after brief visit >From AFP ENGLISH, September 27th, 2000 > > >DAMASCUS, Sept 27 (AFP) - Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tareq Aziz, left >Syria Wednesday after a brief visit, an official said. > >Aziz had held conversations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and >Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara. > >Those talks centered on "bilateral relations and on Syrian efforts to put >an end to the suffering of the Iraqi people," the official said. > >Following a meeting with Aziz on Tuesday, Shara called for the removal of >the United Nations embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990. > >The Iraqi deputy prime minister, who is on his way to the OPEC meeting in >Venezuela, arrived in Damascus late Monday on an unannounced visit. > >An Arab diplomatic source said Iraq and Syria wish to improve their >relations. > > >Baghdad notifies trade partners of shift to euro >By Abdul Jalil Mustafa, BridgeNews Amman--Sept. 27--Iraq has notified all >trade partners that future contracts with the Iraqi governments should be >denominated in the euro instead of the U.S. dollar, Trade Minister Mohammad >Mehdi Saleh announced Wednesday. In an interview with the Doha-based >Al-Jazira satellite TV channel, Saleh contended that Baghdad would not face >any difficulty in "pegging" its oil revenues to any currency other than the >greenback. > > "We notified other states as of yesterday that our contracts with them >should be denominated in the euro," Saleh said. He was apparently alluding >to the deals, which Iraq used to conclude under the provisions of the U.N. >oil-for-aid program. > >The Iraqi cabinet decided on Monday to quit the dollar and replace it with >the euro or any other reserve currency in external trade dealings. The >decision came in response to a recommendation to this effect by a panel of >Iraqi economists, who were earlier asked by President Saddam Hussein to >evaluate the feasibility of such a step. > >"Iraq has decided to quit the dollar altogether because it is a currency of >an hostile, imperialist country which sought to assume hegemony on the >international economy," Saleh said. > >Responding to a question, the Iraqi minister said that it would not be >difficult for Baghdad to have its oil revenues turned into the euro or any >other currency. > >"It is true that oil is priced in the dollar at the world market, but Iraq >can peg its oil revenues to any other currency by asking that its crude >proceeds be deposited in its account in the euro," he said. > >"Libya did the same thing and demanded its oil proceeds be paid in Deutsche >marks and the Swiss Franc when its was subjected to an embargo several years >ago," he added. > >Under the oil-for-food plan launched in December 1996, Iraq has been allowed >by the U.N. Security Council to export the equivalent of $5.26 billion of >crude oil every six months. > >Only about 40% of the proceeds are being used for financing the purchase of >badly needed food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, while the >remainder is allocated for compensating the victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion >of Kuwait and covering U.N. operations in the sanctions-hit Iraq. > > >Icelandic, Russian planes set to fly to Iraq in defiance of embargo >From AFP ENGLISH, September 27th, 2000 > >BAGHDAD, Sept 27 (AFP) - Two planes from Iceland and Russia are to land in >Baghdad within 48 hours, in further defiance of the decade-old UN embargo >against Iraq, the official INA news agency reported Wednesday. > >"Russia will send another plane to Baghdad in the coming two days, followed >by Iceland, before Friday's scheduled arrival of the second French plane," >INA >said. > >Both planes will stop over in Paris en route to Baghdad, the agency said >without specifying the passengers the planes would be carrying. > >The controversial flight embargo against Iraq is increasingly being >challenged by countries that disagree with the United States and Britain on >the need to maintain the sanctions. > >A Jordanian flight is due in the Iraqi capital later Wednesday, the first >from an Arab country in a decade. > >A second French flight plans to fly from Paris to Baghdad on Friday with >about 100 passengers, including several well-known personalities. > >The first flight between the two cities in a decade landed in Baghdad last >Friday carrying 75 passengers, provoking an angry reaction from the United >States. > >Washington accused Paris of violating UN sanctions imposed on Baghdad after >Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990, triggering the Gulf War of >January-February 1991. > >The organisers of that flight described it as a non-commercial humanitarian >flight and therefore exempt from the terms of the embargo. > >Russia last weekend also flew a plane into Baghdad, while India has said it >is planning to send one of its own. > > >MP to defy sanctions with flight to Iraq >From The Daily Telegraph September 26th, 2000 > By Anton La Guardia > Diplomatic Editor > >THE backbench MP George Galloway will join a sanctions-defying flight to >Baghdad this week as an inter- national campaign to break down the embargo >gathers strength. "An embargo only works for as long as people are prepared >to >obey it," said Mr Galloway. "There is a sense that people are no longer >prepared to blockade Iraq in perpetuity." > >Mr Galloway, who tried to organise a >protest flight earlier this year but was prevented by objections from the >United Nations sanctions committee, said he and the Labour peer Lord Rea >would >join a group of French anti-sanctions campaigners led by the former foreign >minister, Claude Cheysson. British celebrities such as the pop star Kirsty >MacColl and the radio presenter Andy Kershaw would also travel on the flight >from Paris on Friday, he added. The embargo on flights to Baghdad, in force >for >a decade, was breached last week by a Russian aircraft carrying oil >executives >as well as humanitarian supplies, and a French flight carrying doctors and >other anti-sanctions campaigners. > >The Saudi-owned Arabic daily, al-Hayat, >reported yesterday that the French and Russian flights had carried doctors >to >treat President Saddam Hussein for suspected cancer. There was no >confirmation >of the claim. The UN Security Council is divided over the future of the >sanctions. France, Russia and China say resolutions do not ban commercial >air >flights to Baghdad, but Britain and America insist that they come under the >wider trade embargo. The Foreign Office said last night: "Any proposal for a >flight to Baghdad should be referred to the UN sanctions committee." Iraq >has >repeatedly rejected a Security Council offer to lift sanctions if weapons >inspectors are allowed to resume work. > >Kuwait pushes dlrs 16-billion claim against Iraq before U.N. panel > >GENEVA (AP) _ Kuwait appealed to a key U.N. panel Tuesday to overcome >differences between Russia and the United States and force Iraq to pay it >dlrs 15.9 billion in claims for the Gulf War torching of its oilfields. > >``They represent losses that were witnessed by the whole world as a result >of Iraq's plan to destroy Kuwait by means of a scorched earth policy,'' >Khaled Ahmad al-Mudaf, chairman of the board of the Kuwaiti compensation >authority, told the 15-nation U.N. >Compensation Commission. > >Russia and France, among Iraq's allies on the U.N. Security Council, are >believed to have blocked the commission's approval of the payout to Kuwait >since last June as they have worked to ease decade-old sanctions against >Iraq. > >Last week France told the Security Council that such an enormous sum would >be unconscionable at a time when oil companies were enjoying record high >prices and Iraqis were suffering from sanctions. > >American officials declined to comment, but diplomatic sources who insisted >on no further identification said the United States was hoping for consensus >approval of the Kuwaiti claims before the panel adjourns its three-day >session Thursday. > >However, diplomats noted that the panel, which meets behind closed doors, >was subject to the same differences over Iraq that have been tying up the >Security Council in New York. > >The commission, created at the end of the 1991 war to >compensate victims of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, is made up of council >members. > >Iraq dismissed Kuwait's claims as ``highly exaggerated'' and said approval >would damage the Iraqi people for ``generations to come.'' > > >tel: +44 (0)20 7403 5200 >fax: +44 (0)20 7403 3823 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >web: www.mariamappeal.com > >-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> >eLerts >It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! >http://click.egroups.com/1/9068/3/_/22961/_/970159707/ >---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> > >Knowledge is Power! >Elimination of the exploitation of man by man >http://www.egroups.com/group/pttp/ >POWER TO THE PEOPLE! > >Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Change Delivery Options: >http://www.egroups.com/mygroups > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
