IRAQ SANCTIONS MONITOR Number 144
Thursday, October 26, 2000
All the news.......
Three more powerlifters test positive at Paralympics
SYDNEY, Oct 26 (AFP) - Nine powerlifters have tested positive to banned
drugs at the Sydney Paralympics with Thursday's announcement of three fresh
doping cases, the International Paralympic Committee said.
IPC medical director Michael Riding said the three, who tested positive in
out-of-competition testing, were from Belarus, Nigeria and Iraq, but they
have not yet been formally identified.
US base in Turkey is placed on top alert
>From The Daily Telegraph October 25th, 2000
BRITISH and American troops in the Middle East were on their highest state
of
defensive alert yesterday after intelligence sources reported having
received information on plans for a terrorist attack on bases in the
region. The threat
was aimed at the joint air force base at Incirlik, Turkey, where 2,400
allied
airmen and support staff enforce the northern no-fly zone over Iraq, as well
as
at troops and naval installations in Bahrain and Qatar in the Gulf.
The alert came 12 days after the American destroyer Cole was crippled by a
suicide bomb attack as it refuelled in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17
members of the
crew and injuring 35. That attack has been linked by Yemen's government to a
group with strong connections to Osama bin Laden, the Saudi
multi-millionaire thought to be behind a number of attacks on American
targets. At the US 5th Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, and at a
smaller US air force support base near Doha, in Qatar, American
Alert Status Delta, the highest state of readiness used by the Pentagon.
Kyodo sports news summary
TOKYO, Oct. 25 (Kyodo) _ BEIRUT - Japan spotted Iraq a one-goal lead in
their Asian Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday, but came charging back to win 4-1
with two goals from Man of the Match Hiroshi Nanami and one apiece from
Naohiro Takahara and Tomokazu Myojin.
The Iraqi jinx looked set to continue for Japan at Beirut Sports City
Stadium when a poor clearance from captain Ryuzo Morioka fell nicely for
Iraq forward Abbas Jassim, who drilled a right-foot shot into the top corner
with just four minutes gone.
US BOMBS IRAQ
>From MIRROR, October 25th, 2000
US warplanes have bombed air defence sites in Iraq after coming under
anti-aircraft fire 250 miles north of Baghdad.
Containing Iraq: A Forgotten War; As U.S. Tactics Are Softened, Questions
About Mission Arise
>From WASHINGTON POST, October 25th, 2000
Most of the year, Bernard Yosten pilots Boeing 727s for American Airlines
out of Miami. But in mid-September, he came here for two weeks of flying Air
Force F-16 fighters in the "no-fly zone" over northern Iraq, where he was
shot at with both antiaircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles.
The Iraqi fire "was pretty damned close," reported Yosten, who has since
gone back to hauling tourists around the Caribbean.
To a surprising degree, Operation Northern Watch, as the Air Force calls
this mission, is conducted by part-timers. Other members of Yosten's Alabama
Air National Guard unit on temporary duty here usually fly for Delta,
United, Southwest, Northwest, Federal Express and United Parcel Service.
Northern Watch is characteristic of U.S. military missions in the post-Cold
War era: It is small-scale, open-ended and largely ignored by the American
people. Even though U.S. warplanes are routinely dropping bombs on a foreign
country, it has not been an issue in the presidential campaign and has
hardly been mentioned by the candidates.
Partly because Turkey and Arab allies want to keep their assistance quiet,
the Defense Department makes public little information about the joint
U.S.-British effort to prohibit Iraqi aircraft from flying over northern and
southern Iraq, thereby protecting Kurds in the North and Shiite Muslims in
the South who oppose Saddam Hussein's rule. But behind the official veil,
the no-fly operation has undergone major changes and embarrassments that
might
have made headlines if it had a higher profile:
* After patrolling aggressively last year, in a manner that one pilot says
was intended to draw antiaircraft fire, the Air Force has pulled back and is
avoiding known antiaircraft emplacements. Top commanders recently approved
an order formalizing the de-escalation.
* The Air Force also has stopped dropping "cement bombs," emptied of
explosives, on antiaircraft batteries near mosques and other sensitive
sites. For the most part, it now leaves those batteries alone.
* The Turkish government has interrupted the flying schedule several
times, sometimes to bomb Kurdish villages in Iraq and sometimes to protest
America's refusal to sell Turkey certain precision-guided bombs.
* U.S. aircraft mistakenly bombed and strafed a group of Iraqi shepherds
last
year because intelligence analysts misinterpreted satellite imagery and
thought a water trough for sheep was a missile launcher.
Iraq says the U.S. airstrikes have killed about 300 people, mostly
civilians, since December 1998. American officials admit that there have
been casualties but say they do not know how many. Ian Roxborough, a
historian at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, calls this
"fire-and-forget foreign policy," after the modern munitions that help make
such an operation
possible.
But if Northern Watch isn't particularly controversial, neither is it
particularly popular. At a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing,
conservative Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) and liberal Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
took turns questioning it, with Thurmond calling it "a failure."
As the United States enters its 10th year of confronting Hussein, military
strategists are frustrated, too. "I no longer have any sense of what the
'containment' of Iraq is all about," said retired Army Col. Andrew
Bacevich, now a military expert at Boston University. "We just fly missions
and drop bombs from time to time because we've been doing it for 10 years
and no one can stop us from doing so."
Even some of the fighter pilots who have flown Northern Watch said they do
not understand why it continues. "I think almost everybody thinks it is a
waste of time," said a National Guard pilot who has done four tours of duty
here.
There are some indications that the operation may end, but not soon and
not because it has achieved any enduring success. Support for sanctions on
Iraq appears to be waning both in the Arab world and in Europe. Only Britain
continues to patrol the no-fly zones with the United States, operating
reconnaissance aircraft that do not carry weapons.
A day of Operation Northern Watch, which is conducted from Incirlik Air
Base, a few miles east of the Turkish city of Adana, begins with the roar of
F-15C fighters emerging from a hardened shelter. The pilots have been
briefed on intelligence, weather and the day's mission.
"Puggsley," an Air Force captain from Alexandria who asked that his real
name not be used, climbs into his F-15, which bristles with weaponry:
heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles near his wingtips, bigger radar-guided
Sparrows on pylons closer in and four even bigger AMRAAM missiles under his
fuselage. He taxies to the arming area, where the missiles are activated,
and screams down the runway.
But the Air Force approach to patrolling the skies of Iraq involves much
more. The fighters are followed by an RC-135 "Rivet Joint" reconnaissance
jet, a Boeing 707 laden with surveillance gear. Next come two Navy EA-6B
electronic jammers, then some of the Alabama Air National Guard F-16s
carrying missiles to home in on Iraqi radar. One of the Alabamians flies a
jet borrowed from the Colorado Air National Guard that says "Mile-High
Militia" on its tail. The
final plane in the 25-aircraft "package" is a big KC-10 tanker, a flying gas
station.
As the pilots head east toward Iraq, the Syrian border is just 20 miles to
their right. Some of the pilots believe that the Syrian government, which
can see them on radar, reports their movements to Baghdad, giving Iraqi
gunners about an hour's warning. It takes that long for the American planes
to travel 400 miles to the ROZ, the "restricted operating zone" over eastern
Turkey where the pilots get an aerial refueling and then turn south into
Iraq.
The pilots disagree about whether they are truly in combat. "If I can shoot,
and if I'm getting shot at, yes, it's combat," argues "Sluggo," a lieutenant
colonel from Charlevoix, Mich., who also asked that his name not be used.
But Lt. Col. Dave "Mega" Watt scoffs. Even though the Iraqis shoot to kill,
says the sandy-haired veteran of 17 years in F-16s, "the threat isn't that
high. You're probably in higher danger on the Beltway."
Yosten, the American Airlines pilot, comes down in the middle. "It's not
full-blown combat, but it is a certain level of combat," he says. "It's a
new type of mission."
Most patrols last four to eight hours, with the fighters and jammers flying
over Iraq and then darting back to the ROZ to refuel two or three times. In
16,000 sorties since the beginning of 1997, Air Force pilots have
launched more than 1,000 bombs and missiles against more than 250 targets in
northern Iraq.
But they are much less likely to drop bombs and shoot missiles than they
were a year ago. Brig. Gen. Bob D. DuLaney, the American commander of
Operation Northern Watch since October 1999, has backed away from the
confrontational tactics that the Air Force used for most of last year.
In early 1999, said Mike Horn, who flew F-15s in two tours of duty in
Northern Watch, "sometimes we flew in such a way that we provoked them to
shoot at us." Under the operation's rules of engagement, they could not bomb
unless the Iraqis fired upon them first.
One sure-fire way to get the Iraqis to start shooting, Horn recalled, was to
buzz a heavily defended area north of the city of Mosul. "F-16 guys would
pop flares over Saddam Dam, which makes a big smoke trail, and the Iraqis
would open up," said Horn, who has left the Air Force and now flies for
American Airlines.
"That's not my style," DuLaney said in his office just a few steps from the
runway at Incirlik. Under his command, he added, there has been a "big
de-emphasis on ordnance." Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, the top
U.S. commander in Europe, codified the change this month in Operations Order
No. 2, only the second general order governing the campaign. "We're not
looking for a fight," Ralston said. "But we will do everything in our power
to protect our air crews."
The change has produced some grumbling among pilots who miss the more
aggressive posture. DuLaney said they lack "a complete understanding of our
mission," which he argued is a success as long as it deters Iraq from
crushing the rebellious Kurds in the North. "Every day we're here is a day
that Saddam's forces can't attack," he said.
For more than a year, the Air Force has declined to release information
about the number or type of missiles and bombs it unleashes on Iraq.
Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said the clampdown protects pilots. But the
pilots, along with others here, say it has more to do with the sensitivities
of U.S. allies and the message the Air Force wants to emphasize. "If all you
do is talk about the number of bombs you've dropped, then people think
that's your mission," DuLaney said.
DuLaney, a soft-spoken Texan, also said changes have been made to reduce the
chance of repeating a mistake that killed many Iraqi civilians on May 12,
1999. In that incident, an F-15E launched a 3,000-pound bomb into a
shepherd's camp after intelligence analysts--perhaps stretched by the Kosovo
air campaign going on at the same time--looked at blurry satellite imagery
and
misidentified a metal tank that was used for watering sheep. They thought it
was a surface-to-air missile launcher.
The mistake was compounded when F-16 pilots, believing the surrounding tents
to be camouflaged military facilities, swept the area with their guns. Iraq
says the attack killed 19 people and wounded 46 others. Villagers told a
visiting Washington Post reporter in June that relatives ran to the site
after the first explosion, only to fall victim to the strafing.
"We put some things in place that will eliminate those kinds of errors,"
DuLaney said, without elaborating. "I seriously doubt whether we've hurt any
civilians since I've been up here."
The dilemma, he added, is that most antiaircraft weaponry in northern
Iraq has been placed next to mosques or populated areas. Last year, the Air
Force tried to hit some of those emplacements with bombs filled with cement,
not explosives, to soften the impact. DuLaney said that tactic has been
abandoned because a bomb could still go awry and kill civilians or damage a
mosque, which he said would play into the hands of Hussein.
"If I'm going to err, I'm going to err on the side of right," he said.
One reason the Air Force has been able to sustain the operation for a decade
is that many personnel come from the National Guard and Reserves, which make
up 20 percent to 40 percent of U.S. air crews. (There are 1,176 Americans
assigned to the operation, plus 162 British service members operating Jaguar
reconnaissance aircraft. The Turkish military provides some ground staff.)
"We got Alabama in here now," said Col. Maurice H. Forsyth, commander of the
air component of the operation. "Terre Haute's coming out in four days."
Surprisingly, there is general agreement that the Guard and Reserves have
better pilots than the regular Air Force, which may be one reason the United
States has not lost a pilot or plane despite flying about 250,000 sorties
over Iraq since 1991.
Reservists sometimes are denigrated by active-duty troops as weekend
warriors. But here, the Guard and Reserve pilots are the seasoned fighter
jocks who lord it over the green, active-duty pilots. "The majority of them
[on active duty] are what we call punks," Yosten said.
Watt, commander of the active-duty 522nd Fighter Squadron, said that of his
12 pilots now at Incirlik, nine have been flying the F-16 for less than two
years. He uses the mission to help season these newcomers. "I tell them to
check out the triple A [antaircraft artillery], see the muzzle flashes and
the airbursts," he said. "It's good for them to see it, get that bile in the
back of your throat."
Contrast that with Col. Scott "Zapper" Mayes of the Alabama Air National
Guard, who was dodging antiaircraft fire over Hanoi before most of the
active-duty pilots were born. The pilots under his command have an average
of 2,000 hours flying F-16s, compared with 100 for some of the active-duty
pilots.
As commander of the fighter wing closest to the Atlanta airport, a major
airline hub, Mayes has a waiting list to get into his unit. When commercial
fliers come to Incirlik, he said, "They morph into warriors."
Still, some are dismayed by what they have seen. Horn said that on more than
one occasion he and his comrades received a radio message that "there was a
TSM inbound"--that is, a "Turkish Special Mission" heading into Iraq.
Following standard orders, the Americans turned their planes around and flew
back to Turkey.
"You'd see Turkish F-14s and F-16s inbound, loaded to the gills with
munitions," he said. "Then they'd come out half an hour later with their
munitions expended."
When the Americans flew back into Iraqi airspace, he recalled, they would
see "burning villages, lots of smoke and fire."
The Turkish and U.S. militaries last year established separate air lanes so
that U.S. aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone would not cross paths with
Turkish planes bombing alleged Kurdish terrorist bases. Turkey has been
fighting for years against the PKK, a Kurdish group seeking an independent
homeland in the border region between Iraq, Iran and Turkey.
Another source of friction has been the U.S. refusal to sell Turkey a
particular precision-guided missile coveted by the Turkish military. As a
result, since spring, Turkey has refused permission for the U.S. military to
bring that weapon to Incirlik for use against Iraq, officials said.
DuLaney insisted that since he took command a year ago, "the Turks have been
wonderful" and have not blocked any U.S. flights. "Relationships are better
than in '99," he said.
Asked about interruptions of the operation, Baki Ilkin, Turkey's ambassador
to Washington, said, "I don't know every detail about the operations. . . .
I know that from time to time, the operations are suspended
for one reason or another."
When the day's mission is over, the pilots give the planes back to the
mechanics, turn in their 9mm pistols and attend a debriefing. Most pilots
prefer flying the southern no-fly zone, which is three times
as large as the northern one, and so makes aircraft movements less
predictable to Iraqi gunners. But the ground crews prefer it here, where the
weather is cooler and where, unlike in Saudi Arabia, they are frequently
allowed off base.
When they go off duty, some pilots work out in the base's gym. Others while
away the evenings drinking what one happily called "mega-gallons of beer."
On a recent evening in the "tent city" where most troops passing
through here live, maintenance crew chiefs from the Alabama Air National
Guard were barbecuing chicken and ribs. "We're doing covered dish tonight,"
said Tech. Sgt. Dave Shows.
About 1,200 people live in the tent city, something of a misnomer because
the tents are now semi-permanent, air-conditioned structures with four or
five bedrooms, a small living room with a TV and VCR, and a kitchenette. "We
pretty much have all the comforts of home," said Master Sgt. Sidney Burk, a
maintenance specialist with the 71st Fighter Squadron.
After dinner, many head to a "morale tent" to use 15 computer terminals
dedicated to their e-mail needs. About half the troops on temporary duty use
the terminals every day. The biggest complaint they have, said Marine Lt.
Col. Rick Shamburger, commanding officer of a Marine Reserve unit from
Stewart,
N.Y., is that "you have to wait sometimes five or 10 minutes to go online."
The morale tent also lends out video and digital cameras. Some troops use
them to tape themselves reading bedtime stories, which they send home to
their kids. At the end of the tent is a travel desk that offers weekend
getaways. One of the most popular is the seven-hour run to the topless beach
at Alanya, on the Mediterranean. One tent over, Lt. Col. C.B. Goodwin, the
Northern Watch
chaplain, offers a competing excursion to Antakya, also known as Antioch,
where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians. It is closer but
apparently less popular than the topless beach.
Many of the troops get off base one or two nights a week, with most heading
for the street they call "the Alley," just outside the gates. The shops
there overflow with Persian carpets, ornate brassware and leather
coats--items aimed at a mature, prosperous, married force. "My wife keeps
sending over orders," sighed "Bob," a combat search and rescue helicopter
pilot on his third Northern Watch tour.
The walls at Enver & Sedat's, a jewelry shop dripping with gold chains, are
covered with photos and certificates of appreciation from the 180th Fighter
Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard, the Virginia Air National Guard, even
the Maryland State Police. Down the street, Angel's Clothing shop sells a
T-shirt that lists the "Top 10 Reasons You Know It Is Time to Leave Turkey,"
which mainly involve lusting for one's spouse.
What is missing, for the most part, are the girlie bars and discos that
surrounded foreign bases in the Vietnam era. To be sure, there is one sign
promising a Saturday night performance by "Eight Russia Strip Girls." But
most of the troops out here on short rotations seem more intent on picking
up Christmas presents.
Israel concerned about Iraq military movements: paper
JERUSALEM, Oct 25 (AFP) - Israel is viewing with concern Iraqi military
movements near the Syrian and Jordanian borders, a top political source said
in the Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot on Wednesday.
"This big Iraqi force is deployed in an offensive formation. It could be
simply a symbolic initiative, but we saw what happened before the start of
the
Gulf War when Iraq invaded Kuwait," the source said.
"If they want, the Iraqis can ignore Jordanian sovereignty to move on
Israel," the source said.
In Washington, however, the Pentagon said Tuesday that the troop movements
in Iraq's western desert appeared to be part of annual training exercises
and
posed no danger to its neighbours.
There was no air cover nor logistical back-up for any offensive operation,
the US defence department said.
Presumed remains of Saudi pilot flown to Geneva for analysis
RIYADH, Oct 24 (AFP) - The presumed remains of a Saudi pilot downed in Iraq
during the 1991 Gulf war have been flown to Geneva for analysis, the Red
Cross said Wednesday.
Independent experts would test the remains to verify they are those of
Squadron Leader Mohammad Nadera, said Beat Schweizer, the head of the
International Committee of the Red Cross in Baghdad.
Blood was also being taken from his mother and sister in Saudi Arabia for
DNA checks by international experts who will travel on to Geneva.
The laboratory analysis could take two weeks, said Schweizer, adding that
the search operation in the Iraqi desert, near the Saudi border, had gone
well and the teams from both countries had cooperated.
A Saudi official said Tuesday that Iraq had given the Red Cross just "19
grammes of bones and we are waiting for the genetic analysis in our
laboratories and in international laboratories."
People's Mujahedeen says mortar attack in Tehran carried out by women
NICOSIA, Oct 25 (AFP) - Iran's main armed opposition group, the People's
Mujahedeen, said Wednesday that a mortar attack it claimed to have launched
on security headquarters in Tehran at the weekend was carried out by a unit
made up exclusively of women.
In a statement received by AFP here, the Mujuahedeen said "a number of
Revolutionary Guards were killed or wounded" in the operation on Sunday
morning, using weapons seized from government forces.
The group gave no details on the all-woman unit, which it said was
responsible for "reconnoitring, planning, commanding and the actual attack".
Iran's official news agency IRNA had said on Monday that mortar shells hit
northern Tehran overnight, but that no one was injured as the missiles fell
onto open space.
Palestinian plane to fly wounded to Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Oct 25 (AFP) - A Palestinian aircraft is to fly out 20 people
wounded in the clashes with Israeli forces for treatment in Baghad, a
Palestinian diplomat said Wednesday.
"A Palestinian Boeing from Gaza airport is to bring to Baghdad on Sunday 20
Palestinian wounded who will be hospitalised in Iraq," said Dalil al-Qasus,
first secretary at the "embassy of Palestine".
"The plane will also carry a delegation from the Palestine National Council
for a solidarity visit to Iraq," said the diplomat.
It will be the first Palestinian flight to join the flow of aircraft into
Saddam International Airport since it reopened in August, in a bid to force
a end to the 10-year-old air embargo on Iraq.
Iraq has despatched two convoys of more than 100 trucks carrying food and
medicines for the Palestinians, but charged that Israel refused to let the
goods enter the Palestinian territories.
Russia NGO set to hold intl conference on Iraq.
MOSCOW, October 25 (Itar-Tass) - A Russian non-governmental organisation
calling for a lifting of international sanctions imposed on Baghdad is
expected to convene a four-way conference on Iraq in December.
"The conference will hopefully take place in mid-December in either Paris or
Yerevan, with lawmakers from Russia, the U.S., Britain and Iraq taking
part," Aram Shegunts, director of the Committee for International Cultural,
Scientific, Technical and Business Co-operation with Iraq, told Tass.
"We are going to resort to people-to-people diplomacy since all other means
aimed at solving the Iraqi crisis have led to nothing," Shegunts said.
Shegunts said he had recently met the Second Secretary of the British
Embassy in Moscow, Mark Clayton, to discuss holding such a round-table
meeting.
The Russian official stressed that the committee calls for the complete
lifting of sanctions, rather than their easing or suspension.
PAKISTAN AND IRAQ TO COOPERATE IN OIL & GAS
ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 Asia Pulse - Pakistan and Iraq have agreed to explore ways
and means for further enhancing bilateral relations between the two
countries in various fields particularly in the oil and gas sector.
The matters of mutual interests came under discussion during the meeting
between minister for petroleum and natural resources, Usman Aminuddin and
Ambassador of Iraq to Pakistan, Abdul Karim Aswad. The minister told the
Ambassador, who called on him here, that the present government is attaching
high priority to the speedy
development of oil and gas sector.
He briefed the Iraqi envoy about various ongoing activities in upstream and
downstream and special reference to the recently announced attractive
package of incentives in Offshore exploration.
Vice-president says Iraq to operate domestic, foreign flights `soon`
>From BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS, October 25th, 2000
Vice-President Taha Yasin Ramadan this evening met the fraternal Lebanese
popular delegation, which arrived in Baghdad on a private plane this
afternoon to express their solidarity with steadfast Iraq. On the sidelines
of the meeting, Vice-President Ramadan made a statement to the
correspondents of the Iraqi Television, INA, and Arab and foreign radio and
television networks. He said: [Unidentified corespondent - recording]
Vice-President Taha Yasin Ramadan, how do you view the fraternal Lebanese
delegation's visit
to Baghdad?
[Ramadan] My view and appreciation of the Arab peoples wherever they may be
before and after these attempts has not changed. I believe that they
consider the question of Iraq as their own question. Of course, I am very
happy to see this plane which carries a delegation representing all segments
of Lebanese society, from the south to the
north. They come in defiance of the Zionist US administration's embargo on
civilian flights. This is a defiance and sincere
expression of what they believe in since the embargo was imposed on Iraq.
[Q] What is your stand on Moscow's decision to operate regular flights to
Baghdad? Do you think other countries will follow in
Moscow's steps? Is Iraq ready for such a step?
A] Iraq is ready and able [words indistinct] have the will and capability to
operate such flights. Russia has decided to do so.
Other countries should make their own decisions. Russia is a permanent
Security Council member and knows whether this air embargo was imposed
according to a Security Council resolution or not. We said from the
beginning, that there is no such resolution.
(Q] Do you think that Iraq will operate regular flights?
[A] Maybe, within a few days.
Iran halts efforts to normalize relations with Iraq
TEHRAN, Iran, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Iran is halting efforts to normalize
relations with neighboring Iraq in the wake of an attack on a Tehran
residential area by Iraq-based Iranian dissidents, state run radio said
Wednesday.
Jordan PM to make milestone visit to Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abul-Ragheb
plans to fly to Baghdad next week to discuss expanding economic and trade
cooperation and the renewal of an oil contract under which Jordan could
receive 4.8 million tons of Iraqi crude.
Jordan to stop using dollar in commercial transactions with Iraq
>From BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS, October 25th, 2000
Jordan has decided to stop using the US dollar in commercial transactions
with Iraq, replacing it with the euro or another European currency, Iraqi
radio reported on Wednesday.
AND+++++++++++++++++
PRESS RELEASE
AS SANCTIONS CRUMBLE, THE OPPOSITION BUILDS!
Aircraft from all over the world are now breaching sanctions on Iraq,
landing in Baghdad, bringing not just humanitarian aid and solidarity, but
some of the world's leading politicians and dignitaries.
This weekend, in what will be the largest and most prestigious gathering of
international opponents to the US and British-imposed sanctions policy, more
than 50 delegates from 15 different countries will meet in Brussels to
strengthen links and plot strategy for what is hoped will be the final push
to demolish the blockade on Iraq. Among the delegates will be politicians,
deputies and Members of Parliament from Europe and the Middle East.
The Baghdad Conference is sponsored by the Mariam Appeal, the campaigning
organisation set up by the Labour MP George Galloway. The conference will
take place at the Metropole Hotel, 31, Place de Brouckere, B-1000 Brussels,
BELGIUM on Sat 28th, and Sun 29th October.
The inaugural session of the conference will be held at 11am in the Salon
Ambassadeur. Members of the press and the electronic media are cordially
invited to attend.
Following the conclusion of the two-day meeting a Press Conference will be
held on Monday October 30 at 10.00am in the Einstein Room of the Metropole
Hotel to which, again, members of the media are invited.
tel: +44 (0)20 7403 5200
fax: +44 (0)20 7403 3823
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
web: www.mariamappeal.com
