IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 137
Friday October 13, 2000
LATEST NEWS++++++LATEST++++NEWS+++
Russian airlines awaiting Foreign Ministry permission for Iraq flights
MOSCOW (AP) _ Russia's Vnukovo Airlines is awaiting permission from the
Foreign Ministry before launching regular flights to Iraq, a company
spokesman said Friday.
Alexei Sapkin, a spokesman for the airline, said that Vnukovo hoped to start
twice-weekly flights by the end of the year.
``All will depend on the decision by the Foreign Ministry,'' Sapkin said.
The United States and Great Britain insist that passenger flights to Iraq
are an economic resource for Saddam Hussein's government and therefore a
breach of U.N.-mandated sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait.
But Russia is eager to see sanctions lifted so it can resume lucrative oil
contracts with Baghdad and have Iraq pay back some dlrs 8 billion in
Soviet-era debt. Along with France, Moscow contends that U.N. resolutions do
not specifically ban passenger flights.
Russia's state-run airline, Aeroflot, has said it plans to resume passenger
flights to Baghdad as early as this month.
Sapkin said that Vnukovo was sending three humanitarian flights to Baghdad
on Oct. 27, Nov. 3 and Nov. 10. Those flights have been chartered by the
Moscow-based Committee for International Cooperation with Iraq.
Several Russian planes with humanitarian aid have flown to Baghdad in recent
weeks, often taking along businessmen and cultural officials seeking to open
offices in Baghdad and establish ties with Iraq.
Vnukovo expects heavy demand for its flights from American and European
businessmen and politicians as well as Russians, Sapkin said. Ultimately,
the airline plans to run daily flights to Baghdad.
``We'll have the first flights between a European location and Iraq,''
Sapkin said. ``We'll serve the whole planet.'' Sanctions against Iraq are to
remain in place until Baghdad complies with demands to dismantle its weapons
of mass destruction.
For the past decade, travelers to Iraq have generally had to fly to Amman,
Jordan, and then drive to Baghdad.
Iran's foreign minister in Baghdad to try to solve war-related issues
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ Iran's foreign minister arrived in Baghdad Friday to
talk about prisoners of war, reparations and other issues lingering from the
1980-1988 war between the two countries.
Both Kharrazi and his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf expressed
hope that their discussions over the next several days will lead toward
normalizing ties.
The visit follows a meeting between Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and
Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan following the summit the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries held in Venezuela last month.
Several joint committees the countries set up in 1997 made some progress,
particularly on the prisoner of war issue. But they bogged down on questions
like border security, war reparations and the signing of a peace treaty.
Iran would like to reactivate a 1975 border pact the countries signed in
Algiers. The deal obliges the countries to halt cross border infiltration
and attacks by opposition groups based in each other's territory.
Iraq is said to have accepted an Iranian demand to throw out the Iranian
exile Mujahedeen Khalq provided Tehran reciprocates. Iran provides refuge to
guerrillas of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Tehran would like Baghdad to pay billions of dollars in war reparations. It
refuses to return scores of civil and military aircraft Iraq flew to Iran to
escape bombing by U.S. and allies during the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait.
Relations slightly thawed in 1999 when thousands of Iranian pilgrims started
pouring into Iraq to pay homage to Shiite holy sites. But the pilgrimage was
abruptly halted several months ago with each country blaming the other for
the stoppage.
``Under good understanding and good neighborly relations we can solve all
the outstanding issues between our countries,'' Kharrazi said.
Al-Sahhaf said: ``We have made progress in this sphere but there still are
lingering issues.'' Kharrazi flew to Saddam International Airport. His aides
said the plane had U.N. authorization to land in Baghdad.
Planes from Russia, France and several Arab countries have arrived at the
Baghdad airport in the past few weeks to show solidarity with Iraqi people
suffering under U.N. trade sanctions imposed on Iraq for invading Kuwait in
1990. On Friday, the official Iraqi News Agency reported that two Sudanese
planes with 1 million pencils and six tons of medical supplies arrived.
Wall Street shares close lower on Middle East, oil industry worries
NEW YORK (AFX) - Share prices closed sharply lower on all major indices,
following a volatile session dominated by nervousness about the crude price
in the face of escalating Middle East violence and threatening oil industry
developments in Latin America, dealers said.
The DJIA closed only slightly above its intraday low, down 379.76 at
10,034.03, following the fifth-largest point decline in the history of the
index.
Lebanese Plane Flies to Iraq
BEIRUT (Oct. 13) XINHUA - A plane of a Lebanese airline company took off
from
Beirut International Airport to Baghdad Friday morning, Oriental radio
reported.
The U.N. and Lebanese government Thursday night gave green light to the
flight of Lebanon's Tra-Mediterranean Airline (TMA), which carries 40 tons
of medicine and medical facilities. It is the first Lebanese airplane flying
to Baghdad since U.N. imposed sanctions on Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait
in 1990. Some Lebanese
businessmen and TMA initiated the action.
TMA said in a statement that it hopes the flight will be a beginning of
Lebanon's part in an international trend to help Iraqi people. Russia,
France and several Arab countries have sent airplanes to Iraq in last few
weeks in defiance of U.N. sanctions.
Palestinian refugees seek to join Intifada against Israel
SIDON, Lebanon, Oct 13 (AFP) - Thousands of Palestinian refugees asked here
on Friday to join the uprising in the Palestinian territories against Israel
and denounced preceived US backing to the Jewish state's "savagery."
"Bashar, Lahoud open the borders," the crowd shouted in unison, in a call
directed at Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and the leader of powerful
neighbor Syria, Bashar Assad.
"Beloved Saddam, destroy Tel Aviv," they also chanted in the streets of the
Ain al-Helweh refugee camp at the outskirts of this southern port city,
referring to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Iraq offered Thursday to send more than one million volunteers to join a
jihad (holy war) against Israel alongside the Palestinians.
A group of youths waved Palestinian flags while carrying models of Scud
missiles that Saddam fired on Tel Aviv during the 1990 Gulf War, while
others torched the Israeli and US flags.
The protestors carried large effigies of US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak with blood running down from
their teeth and Nazi swastikas on their chests.
Further south however, the Lebanese army prevented Palestinian refugees from
reaching the border with Israel, a day after Israel warned that protestors
throwing projectiles over the fence will be shot at.
Russian airlines to make humanitarian flights to Iraq soon.
MOSCOW, October 13 (Itar-Tass) - Several Russian air carriers, including
Vnukovo Airlines (VAL), are expected to make humanitarian flights to Iraq
soon, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"The sanctions committee set up in compliance with U.N. Security Council
Resolution 661 has been notified of these flights," the statement said.
"Russia proceeds from the fact that relevant U.N. Security Council
resolutions do not contain a ban on passenger and humanitarian flights to
Iraq, which can be carried out upon notification of the afore-mentioned
committee," it said.
Deputy Russian speaker: let's use Mid-East crisis to restore ties
Text of report by Russian news agency RIA
Moscow, 13th October: LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, the deputy speaker
of the Russian Duma, has proposed submitting a motion to the Duma calling on
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister
Mikhail Kasyanov to "use the current Middle East situation to restore normal
relations between Russia and Iraq, Iran and Palestine."
Zhirinnovskiy made the proposal when the agenda was discussed at the start
of today's plenary sitting. Zhirinovskiy proposed that the Duma committees
on international affairs, defence and security
should draft the motion. Duma chairman Gennadiy Seleznev asked Zhirinovskiy
to submit his proposal in writing and to distribute it to the deputies. If
Zhirinovskiy does so, the motion could be put to the vote by 1400 Moscow
Time
Iranian victims of Iraqi weapons demand compensation from Britain
Text of report by Iranian Students News Agency
(ISNA) web site Tehran, 13th October: The Association of the Victims of Mass
Destruction Weapons has written a letter of complaint to British Foreign
Secretary Robin Cook. The letter describes the British authorities as one of
the main supporters of the [Iraqi] Ba'thist regime, which committed crimes
against the Iranian people, and demands that the people of this country
should be compensated for their losses.
According to an ISNA report, the letter points out that this week two
Iranian young men, named Kamran Jeddinezhad and Mohammad E'temadi, gained
exalted status of martyrdom as a result of the injuries they received during
the [Iran-Iraq] war. It says: Their injuries were the result of support
given to the Saddam [Husayn] regime by such states as Britain.
The letter adds: Britain, as one of the main supporters of Saddam's criminal
regime, shares the responsibility for all the crimes committed by that
regime against the Iranian and Iraqi people as well as for the damage
inflicted on the environment. It should, therefore, received punishment and
pay compensation [to the victims] in proportion to its share of these
inhumane crimes.
The letter says: In accordance with the figures and the statistics released
by the British state and private departments, in the history of
international conflicts Britain has remained one of the biggest
manufacturers and distributor of conventional and unconventional weapons.
The extensive and unstinting political, economic and military support given
to the criminal and aggressive regime of Saddam by Britain, in conjunction
with its strategic ally the United States of America at the start and
throughout the eight-year war against Iran, is clear example of the crisis
created [by Britain] in the contemporary era in order to increase its
domination or to make absurd amounts of money through the sale of military
equipment.
The letter, a copy of which was sent to the foreign diplomats and news
agencies in Tehran, adds: Britain became a permanent member of the US
Security Council, thanks to its nuclear capability and ability to massacre
people.
In order to inform public opinion, the letter says that a report will soon
be released entitled "Britain and the policy of distributing weapons of mass
destruction".
The letter also says: The Association of the Victims of Mass Destruction
Weapons believes that Britain plays a key role in the creation of regional
crises, in the confrontation against Islamic states, in overall support for
Zionism and the usurping regime of Israel, in the creation and directing of
countless instances of hostility against Islam and Iran such as Salman
Rushdie issue and in ... [ellipses as received].
In conclusion the letter calls on Iranian authorities to bring up in their
joint discussions the issue of Britain's direct or indirect involvement in
the crimes committed by Saddam against the people of Iran and Iraq, so as to
help our association in its effort to realize the rights of the victims and
to put right the damage inflicted on the environment by the countries which
assisted the Saddam regime.
Ukraine to cooperate with Iraq under oil-for-food programme - first deputy
PM
Text of report by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN
Kiev, 13th October: Ukraine will cooperate with Iraq within the framework of
the "oil-for-food" resolution, the first deputy prime minister, Yuriy
Yekhanurov, said while commenting today on the results of his visit to the
Middle East countries (7th-12th October).
An UNIAN correspondent reports that Yekhanurov said that he had an official
meeting with Iraqi President Saddam Husayn as well as meetings with Iraqi
officials.
He said that the head of the Naftohaz Ukrayiny company, Vadym Kopylov, who
was also on the Ukrainian delegation, reached an agreement with the Iraqi
minister of oil on further cooperation between the two countries through the
sale of Iraqi oil in exchange for Ukrainian produce. At the same time,
Yekhanurov told journalists that Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Iraq,
Valentyn Novikov, has begun work in Baghdad.
Four solidarity flights land in Iraq despite UN air embargo
BAGHDAD, Oct 13 (AFP) - Four solidarity flights landed in the sanctions-hit
Iraqi capital on Friday despite a decade-old UN air embargo, officials said.
Two Sudanese planes and a Lebanese aircraft touched down at Saddam
International Airport carrying humanitarian aid as well as political
delegations.
Earlier the same day, Kamal Kharazi flew in for the first visit to the Iraqi
capital by an Iranian foreign minister in 10 years.
Social Affairs Minister Qotbi al-Mahdi led a delegation on one of the
Sudanese planes, while the other carried six tonnes of medical aid, said
Iraq's official news agency INA.
It said a Boeing 707 cargo plane arrived from Lebanon with MP Mosbah
al-Ahdab on board and 25 tons of aid for Iraq, which has been under sweeping
sanctions including the air embargo since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Lebanon and Sudan joined a long list of Arab countries to test the embargo,
following Russian and French flights, since the reopening of Baghdad's
airport
on August 17.
Paris and Moscow say the air embargo on Iraq, as part of the sanctions
regime, does not cover private non-commercial flights. Washington and London
insist that all flights must be approved by a UN sanctions committee.
Trans Mediterranean Airlines (TMA) in Lebanon said its flight had UN
authorisation, while the Sudanese planes were delayed by a day, as the
United
States warned Khartoum to wait for clearance from the UN sanctions
committee.
Unlike the French and Russian flights, most of the Arab missions have been
cleared by the UN committee.
Iran's foreign minister, meanwhile, flew in on an Iran Air flight, the first
Iranian aircraft to land in Baghdad since the United Nations slapped
sanctions on Iraq.
Tehran has opposed the strict sanctions regime but nonetheless abided by the
international embargo against the neighbour with which it fought a 1980-1988
war.
A bone of contention between Tehran and Baghdad is the return of Iraqi
planes evacuated to Iran to avoid US-led air raids during the 1991 Gulf War
over Kuwait.
Tariq Aziz receives Egyptian delegation, says Israelis being taught a lesson
Text of report by Iraqi TV on 11th October Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz
conveyed the greetings of mujahid leader President Saddam Husayn, may God
watch over him, to the members of the Egyptian popular delegation [which
arrived by air].
He also expressed the president's pride in the fraternal Egyptian people's
support for their brothers in Iraq.
During a meeting with the members of the Egyptian delegation this evening,
Tariq Aziz said: Leader President Saddam Husayn asked me to convey his
excellency's greetings to the members of the delegation.
He asked me to tell you that he misses Egypt.
Aziz added: The Iraqi people warmly and sincerely welcome this visit because
of its symbolic importance to the Iraqi people. Aziz said that Iraq has
always supported Egypt during times of jihad. The heart of Baghdad was
boiling for Egypt during the 1956 tripartite aggression.
He added: The imperialists and the Zionists who imposed the embargo on Iraq
and continue to attack it were under the illusion that Iraq will remain
alone and that they will be able to enforce their will on it and make it
kneel down and surrender. However, Iraq stood fast for 10 years in the face
of the aggression and the embargo. Iraq still has more patience and
determination to remain steadfast.
Today, they see with their own eyes that the Arab nation from the ocean to
the gulf stands in support of Iraq, including Egypt, the very heart of the
Arab nation.
Therefore, these arrogant people will learn important lessons from the Arab
solidarity that Iraq is enjoying.
Aziz went on to say: We must teach them more lessons. Our people in
Palestine are currently teaching the Zionists a lesson that they never
expected. Baghdad, which welcomes you, does not talk about the blockade
these days as much as it talks about Palestine. The streets of Baghdad and
all the Iraqi cities are crowded with demonstrations in support of Palestine
and Jerusalem. Moreover, dozens and hundreds and even thousands and tens of
thousands of Iraqi youths and people from all age groups are flocking at the
volunteers centres to register they names in order to go to Palestine and
struggle alongside their brothers and sisters in Palestine. This is because
our cause is one whether in Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt or in the other parts
of the unified Arab world.
He added: When there is an action of struggle or jihad in any part of the
Arab world, we notice that the Arab nation in its entirety interacts with
this action. This testifies to the fact that our cause is one.
Those who besiege Iraq are the imperialists and the Zionists and those who
kill our people in Palestine are also the imperialists and Zionists.
Additionally, those who attacked Egypt in 1956 are those same imperialists
and Zionists and those who kept the Algerian people under occupation for 130
years are the same enemies of this nation, the imperialists and Zionists.
The tripartite aggression was waged against Egypt because it supported the
Algerian revolution, Aziz stressed.
He noted that the aggression launched against Iraq in 1991 and the blockade
imposed on it are due to the fact that Iraq has always stood by Palestine
and sought to strike some kind of balance with the arrogant Zionists who
seek to impose their will on the entire nation, unmindful of the size of the
population of this nation, extent of its territory, and richness of its
resources. We are facing an aggression in every part of the Arab world
because we support one another, Aziz concluded.
Iranian radio says ties with Iraq depends on Baghdad's goodwill
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi arrived in Baghdad on 13th October
on an official visit. His visit, which is the first ever by an Iranian
foreign minister to Iraq in the past 10 years, is said to
be aimed at resolving some differences. In fact, the last visit of an
Iranian foreign minister to that country took place in November 1990, when
the then foreign minister of Iran, Ali Akbar Velayati, went there on an
official visit.
Kharrazi's visit to Baghdad comes at a time when Iran and Iraq are still
facing some issues, remaining to be resolved since the end of the eight-year
Iran-Iraq war, which came to an end in 1988. One of the main stumbling
blocks to the normalization of Tehran-Baghdad ties are some terms of the UN
Security Council resolution 598, which
have not been resolved yet. Among the unresolved provisions of the
resolution 598 we can name a complete exchange of POWs between the two
countries, Iraq's fulfilled obligation of paying reparations to Iran, and
the implementation of some new arrangements, by virtue of which collective
security could be established across the entire region.
Russian company in talks with Iraq on developing oil field
St Petersburg, 13th October: Slavneft is to begin talks with the Iraqi
government on developing the Subba oil deposit in Iraq on 31st October this
year, the company's vice-president, Andrey Shtorkh, said...
According to Shtorkh, the Iraqi government has proposed that Slavneft
develop three deposits, of which Subba is the most advanced.
However, the vice president stressed that real work on the project might
begin only after the UN lifts its embargo. "If we feel that we have made
progress in our negotiations are prepared to approach this organization with
a proposal to lift the embargo," he said.
Second Sudanese aircraft arrives in Iraq
Text of report by Iraqi radio on 13th October
A second Sudanese plane carrying a large official and popular delegation
landed at Saddam International Airport at 1215 [0915 gmt] today. On board
the plane were Shanbul Adlan, the Sudanese aviation minister; Fathi Khalil,
head of the Sudanese Bar Association and head of the popular committee for
the support of Iraq; and representatives of professional and popular
organizations in Sudan.
They were received at the airport by Sa'di Tu'mah Abbas, minister of labour
and social affairs; Dr Ahmad Murtada Ahmad, minister of transport; Sa'd
Qasim Hammudi, secretary-general of the Arab Popular Forces Conference;
Abd-al-Wahid Shinan Al Ribat, governor of Baghdad; and other officials.
Iraqi military spokesman reports US-British sorties on 12th October
Text of report by Iraqi radio on 12th October
Within their hostile policy towards the great Iraq and their exposed schemes
against it, and at a time that our Arab people in occupied Palestine are
being annihilated, the rulers of Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia are carrying on with their treachery. They are extending support and
assistance to the US and British ravens to further harm Iraq, the fortress
of steadfastness and Arab liberation. They aim at hampering its role in
defending the Islamic holy shrines and fighting the Zionist aggression.
In a statement to INA, a spokesman for the Air Defence Command said: At 1115
[0815 gmt] on 12th October 2000, the US and British ravens of evil violated
the sanctity of our airspace through the Saudi and Kuwaiti airspace and with
direct spport from the ruling regimes in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. They
conducted 22 sorties from Saudi airspace and 24 sorties from Kuwaiti
airspace, backed by an AWACS aircraft in the Saudi airspace and an A-2 C
aircraft in the Kuwaiti airspace. They flew over areas in the Governorates
of Basra, Dhi Qar, Al-Muthanna, Al-Qadisiyah, Karbala, Al-Najaf, Wasit and
Maysan.
Revolution Command Council issues statement on Palestinian intifadah
Text of report by Iraqi TV on 12th October
President Saddam Husayn, may God watch over him, chaired a meeting
comprising members of the Revolution Command Council Taha Yasin Ramadan,
Tariq Aziz, Colonel Ali Hasan al-Majid, and Taha Muhyi-al-Din Ma'ruf.
The following statement was issued at the end of the meeting: Ye fighters on
Palestinian land, the sons of our glorious Arab nation. Ye great people in
the Iraq of glory, the flag and the position. May peace be upon you.
The Zionist aggression and the liberation of beloved Palestine and its holy
Jerusalem will not be achieved by condemnation and
denunciation, as some of those who are trying to throw dust in the eyes are
doing. They are under the illusion that they can conceal their weakness and
inability, which they caused themselves by adopting dishonourable positions
and dubious and malicious policies. Therefore, Iraq has taken it upon itself
not to adopt the same
position as those who do not have sound intentions or stances.Thus, we are
aware that the Arab nation, including the heroic
Palestinian people, the principled Iraqi people, the valiant and honourable
Iraqi army, and every Arab state, is capable of
liberating Palestine within its cabilities with the help of God, who is
capable and great. The Arab nation can achieve that with moderate military
resources in addition to military, economic and media support as well as the
Arab nation's capabilities in various fields.
The problem is not with the ability of the nation or its intentions. The
problem is with those who were appointed kings and presidents on the nation
as a reward for serving the foreigners. Accordingly, each
atriotic and pan-Arab person who is a faithful believer should work under
any symbol of authority and power in the Arab world. The masses should fight
to impose their call for liberation on those who
are hesitant or are practising one-upmanship in a desperate attempt to
deceive the masses.
The liberation of Palestine should be the slogan emanating from every home
and every leader, whether popular or official. This is the slogan of jihad,
for which we are prepared to sacrifice blood and money and mobilize men and
energies. The Arab nation and all the energies and resources of the Arabs
should be the depth of any
front-line with the enemy. Whoever opposes this slogan or procrastinates in
providing the requirements for its success will be
cursed and considered a traitor. The slogan on the way to the liberation of
Palestine should at least be the abrogation of the
agreements signed with the Zionist entity, and the eviction of its
embassies. The slogan should also consider any of the members of the Zionist
entity or its interests targets during the fight wherever
the Arabs can reach them. America should also be considered an ally and an
accomplice in the aggression, in entrenching the Zionist entity's occupation
of Arab territory, and in shaping the domestic and foreign Arab policies,
whether in the field of economy, culture or the media accordingly.
The US military presence on the Arab lands, territorial waters and airspace
should be banned. The intifadah and any official or popular military front
should be supported by supplying it with men, money and armies; opening the
doors for public volunteers and providing arms and money as well as other
financial means.
Long live Palestine, free and Arab. Long live our glorious Arab nation. Long
live Iraq. God be great. Long live the jihad. Down with the aggressive and
occupying Jews. God is great. God is great. Down
with the lowly ones.
Ahmad Husayn Khudayir, chief of the Presidential Office; Muhammad Sa'id
al-Sahhaf, foreign minister; and Humam Abd-al-Khaliq Abd-al-Ghafur, minister
of culture and information also attended the meeting.
Source: Iraqi TV, Baghdad, in Arabic 1940 gmt
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