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RE: [ADC-ITF] UK Backs Lifting Iraqi Sanctions (fwd)




Comments on the UK proposal from a US-Based Discussion List..

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 17:59:26 -0400
From: "Gockel, Matthias" <matthias.gockel@ptsem.edu>
Subject: RE: [ADC-ITF] UK Backs Lifting Iraqi Sanctions

I think, caution should come before hope in regard to this proposal.

My first impression is that the UK proposal looks like a continuation of the
current US/UK policy.

1) It makes even the first suspension of sanctions dependent on "key
remaining tasks" regarding WMD.

2) It makes the repetition of further temporary suspension dependent on
"satisfactory" Iraqi "performance". There is no indication that sanctions
will ever be lifted. I am sure the Iraqi response will point this out.

3) The authority to approve of the Iraqi "performance" lies in the same
hands as before, minus Richard Butler.

4) In 1996 the IAEA was reportedly ready to confirm that the 'nuclear file'
was no longer a reason to continue the sanctions.

I have read only the BBC statement, so I may miss some details. But the
above 4 points seem to be enough reason to remain more cautious than
hopeful.

I also wonder if it is at all possible to contact the people who are in
charge of the WMD control tyranny over Iraq and present them with some
material about the effects of sanctions. I am sure (from various articles
about this issue) that most of them are not quite aware of the fact that
they themselves are complicit in crimes against humanity and in a form of
biological warfare.

Don't forget that we deal with real crimes here. Our basic position should
be that there is no room for further ploys; any proposal must include the
complete lifting of the sanctions.


-----Original Message-----
From: epicenter@igc.org
To: adc-itf@leb.net
Sent: 6/16/99 8:29 AM
Subject: [ADC-ITF] UK Backs Lifting Iraqi Sanctions

A hopeful sign...  proceed with caution and hope...

BBC World Service

Wednesday, June 16, 1999 Published at 00:14 GMT 01:14 UK 

World: Middle East

UK backs end to Iraq sanctions 

The British plan envisages a strict inspection regime 

The United Kingdom is putting forward new proposals to end the United
Nations sanctions on Iraq, imposed following the 1990 invasion of
Kuwait. 

The BBC's Mark Devenport in New York: An attempt to show how sanctions
might eventually be suspendedIn a significant turnaround aimed at
breaking
the impasse over Iraq, a draft British resolution at the UN Security
Council sets out a timetable for withdrawing the sanctions, subject to
Baghdad answering some questions about its weapons programme. 

It also calls for strict controls to prevent Iraq acquiring new weapons
of
mass destruction. 

The British change of position means that only the US is now completely
opposed to lifting sanctions. France and Russia have long supported an
early suspension of sanctions. 

However, a US official said the British proposal, which is co-sponsored
by
the Netherlands, is "the appropriate draft around which the Security
Council can begin discussion". 

The Security Council's five permanent members - the United States,
Britain,
France, China and Russia - are scheduled to meet on Wednesday, and the
full
Security Council would be presented with the proposal before the end of
the
week. 

Clear-cut conditions 

Many at the UN see progress on the sanctions issue as a way of getting
UN
weapons insepctors back into Baghdad. Unscom personnel left six months
ago,
shortly before US and British airstrikes were launched to punish Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein's government for failing to cooperate with
inspectors. 

The British draft says sanctions would only be suspended for 120 days
after
Iraq completes a set of "key remaining tasks" regarding the destruction
of
its weapons of mass destruction. 

After another four months, the chairman of the new Commission on
Inspection
and Monitoring and the director-general of the International Atomic
Energy
Agency would report to the council on whether Iraq had answered the
disarmament tasks set out by inspectors. 

The suspension would then be subject to renewal every 120 days, if Iraq
performed satisfactorily. 

Oil-for-food discussion 


Iraq is allowed to sell oil for humanitarian needsA top UN humanitarian
aide will arrive in Baghdad on Wednesday to discuss the oil-for-food
deal.
Benon Sevan, who runs the UN programme, will meet senior Iraqi
government
officials. 

Under the deal, which was extended in May for another six months, Iraq
can
sell $5.26 bn worth of oil over six months to buy food, medicine and
other
humanitarian needs for its people. 




George E. Irani
Laurie King-Irani
850 N. Randolph Street
# 907
Arlington, VA 22203
Phone and Fax: (703) 465-1143

========================================================

For analyses of politics, culture and society in the Middle East, see
the
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http://www.merip.org



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