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From the news



*       US oil lawmakers criticise oil-for-food again (Associated Press)
*       Iraqi skies quiet, says US (Arabic News)
*       Iraq Said Paid $800,000 to Primakov (Associated Press)

The AP article on US oil-producers' criticism of oil-for-food shows the
extent of ignorance that exists about this program, particularly among
oil producers who imagine their worldly interests to be under threat.
For example: '[oil-for-food] may be harming American producers while not
meeting the United States' stated aim of removing Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein from power (sic)'. "I for one am suspicious of this program,"
said Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas, top Democrat on the [House Commerce
energy and power] subcommittee. "It appears to be born out of an
appropriate humane consideration, but may be disruptive of worldwide
crude oil markets and could spawn a lot of abuse." Even more limited
understanding was demonstrated by the panel's chairman, Rep. Joe Barton
of Texas, who arrived at the conclusion that: "[US] Iraqi policy is
designed to maximize Iraqi production at the expense of the marginal
producer in the United States."

********************
U.S. House Faults U.N. Oil Program 
By Michelle Mittelstadt, Associated Press Writer, Friday, March 26, 1999

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Troubled by the depressed condition of the domestic
oil and natural gas industry, oil-state lawmakers criticized a U.N.
humanitarian program that permits Iraq to add millions of barrels of oil
to an already oversupplied market.  At a hearing Friday of the House
Commerce energy and power subcommittee, lawmakers assailed a U.N. policy
that allows Iraq to sell oil for food and medicine, saying it may be
harming American producers while not meeting the United States' stated
aim of removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power. 

``I for one am suspicious of this program,'' said Rep. Ralph Hall of
Texas, top Democrat on the subcommittee. ``It appears to be born out of
an appropriate humane consideration, but may be disruptive of worldwide
crude oil markets and could spawn a lot of abuse.''  But a State
Department official, who came in for sharp questioning, defended the
policy, saying elimination of the oil-for-food program would lead to
erosion of support within the worldwide community for continued
sanctions against Iraq. 

``The sanctions deprive Saddam of the revenue he would otherwise use to
reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction,'' said Bill Wood,
principal deputy assistant secretary of state. ``It is essential that we
address the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people. Doing so is right in
itself but also crucial to maintaining Security Council, regional and
other international support for the sanctions while we continue our
efforts to change the Iraqi regime.'' 

Economic sanctions were imposed by the U.N. Security Council in 1990 to
punish Iraq for invading Kuwait. To ease the sanctions' devastating
effect on the Iraqi people, the United Nations launched the oil-for-food
program in 1996. France has called for an end to the oil embargo,
prompting the administration to counter with a proposal in January that
would expand the oil-for-food program, which comes up for Security
Council review in May. Congress has no direct say in whether it
continues, but some lawmakers are pressuring the administration to seek
changes or an end to the policy. Under the program, Iraq is allowed to
sell up to $10.4 billion in oil annually, with the proceeds directed by
the United Nations for purchases of food, medicine and infrastructure.
Iraq, which is producing about 2.5 million barrels per day, has not
neared the $10.4 billion ceiling. 

Administration officials contend that the Iraqi production has a
negligible impact on U.S. oil prices, which have been in a serious slump
for well over a year. Yet congressional Republicans note that when OPEC
recently proposed cutting production by an amount similar to Iraq's
output, worldwide crude prices rose by nearly $2 a barrel. 

The domestic energy industry has shrunk by some 50,000 jobs in the past
year or so and producers have closed more than 136,000 marginal oil
wells that individually produce less than 15 barrels daily but
collectively account for one-fifth of domestic production. The panel's
chairman, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, said he has concluded that ``our
Iraqi policy is designed to maximize Iraqi production at the expense of
the marginal producer in the United States.'' 

********************
US: Iraqi skies quiet
Arabic News, Iraq, Politics, 3/26/99

Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said yesterday that Iraq has not
violated the no-fly zones recently, saying, "There have been no
violations of the no-fly zone by the Iraqi forces for the last five days
or so." He added, "There have not been the provocations that we had seen
up until the last week or so. I think it's one of the longest quiet
periods we've had since Desert Fox." Bacon said the US continues to
patrol the zones, especially the southern zone, though there have been
"down days because of weather and other reasons" recently.

********************
Iraq Said Paid $800,000 to Primakov 
Monday, March 29, 1999; 3:15 a.m. EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov received at
least $800,000 from the Iraqi government and hindered U.N. efforts to
monitor Baghdad's illegal weapons programs, The New Yorker magazine
reported.  The magazine, in an article by investigative reporter Seymour
M. Hersh, also said the U.S. military attempted to assassinate Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein during allied airstrikes last December. The story
was reported in the magazine's April 5 edition, which hits newsstands
today. 

According to The New Yorker, Primakov has a close friendship with Saddam
dating back to the 1960s, when the Russian official was a correspondent
for Pravda in the Middle East.  U.N. weapons inspector Rolf Ekeus
learned how close that friendship was in 1996 when he alerted Primakov
to evidence that Russia was smuggling illegal contraband to Iraq,
including materials for the Iraqi nuclear program, The New Yorker said.
Primakov, Russia's foreign minister at the time, said his government was
not involved in any illegal smuggling, and promised to conduct an
investigation, Ekeus was quoted as saying.  Ekeus said he never saw the
results of any investigation, and that secret codes used by the Russians
were subsequently changed. 

Then, in November 1997, British intelligence found strong evidence of an
$800,000 payment to Primakov by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz,
the magazine said.  ``A payment was made,'' it quotes an American source
as saying. ``This is rock solid.'' According to the report, senior CIA
officials had believed for a long time that Primakov was receiving
payments from Saddam.  In Moscow, Primakov's spokeswoman Tatyana
Aristarkhova said she could not comment on The New Yorker article
because she had not seen it. 

The New Yorker also said that the December 1998 bombings of Iraq ordered
by President Clinton included an assassination attempt on Saddam by
bombing two sites where the Iraqi leader allegedly meets his mistresses.
It said the official goal of the attack was to ``degrade'' Iraq's
strategic capabilities.  U.S. officials did not immediately comment on
The New Yorker report. But U.S. officials have denied similar assertions
in the past. U.S. policy explicitly prohibits assassinations of foreign
leaders.

********************
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