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Hamre, Drew wrote: > > The following appears in today's New York Times (see > http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/092099iraq-un-sanctions.html): > --- > The New York Times > September 20, 1999 > > U.N. Official in Iraq Calls for Lifting of Sanctions > By DOUGLAS JEHL > > "Please remove the humanitarian discussions from the rest in order to > really end a silent human tragedy," Sponek said. > >----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moonirah - H.E.L.P. CO-ORDINATOR IN THE UK responding wrote:20/9/99 > >"human tragedy" - my words exactly about the 605 hostages and PoWs still held in Iraq ! >Sponek, with respect is therefore asking that 605 incarcerated human beings belonging >to several >nations would again be abandoned to endure more torture in Iraqi prisons ? > >The 605 detainees still held in Iraq, though seen incarcerated there by a prominent >British politician Emma Nicholson, were all put on hold whilst the U.N. and UNSCOM >dealt with >Weapons Inspections and other matters. It is wrong to abandon them again !! > >To do as he says:"remove the humanitarian discussions from the rest" means to forget >the past >nine years of suffering by those 605 awaiting to return home and cast aside >the trauma of their >605 awaiting families residing in different countries, including >Wales, England and Scotland. > >This matter is not a new development but commenced with the 1991 Cease-fire Agreement >and UN Resolution 687 (1991. Then again last year (1998) UN Resolution 1154. > >Before, during and after the recent new Draft Resolution Proposal by Britain it was >again >verbally confirmed to me by telephone when speaking to the Middle East Department >of F.C.O. in >London. One call in particular I remember well - after the sudden death >of Derek Fatchett I was speaking by telephone to Jane Bailey who that day re-confirmed >"sanctions >cannot be lifted until this issue is resolved" plus, we spoke of the media >and press focussing on >non-compliance of weapons inspections, thus knowingly omitting >facts about the human face of this tragedy, which is a key piece in all this - despite >so many people not seeing it clearly yet ! Time perhaps will help them comprehend ?? > >When I asked her whether their decisions or policies had been or were to being changed, >Ms Bailey added, re-assuringly, that the request for release of the 605 detainees is >always >discussed at every meeting attended by F.C.O. representatives with the United >Nations, etc etc. >It was agreed by us both that the 605 Kuwaiti plus THIRD-NATIONAL >hostages and PoWs' humanitarian >issue is constantly excluded by news agencies, although >all media and press are totally aware >that UN Resolution 1154 signed 1998 and 687 >signed 1991 requires IRAQ to release the 605 >detainees. Hence you have the statements >again put out in current news reports confirming " >pressure on Iraq to meet its >international obligations ", i.e. Resolutions 1154 and 687 !! > >Our organisation finally obtained TV, Radio and Press coverage for this humanitarian >issue 1998 - 1999 locally in Wales, UK national, Arab News and British Forces Radio ! > >I and many people connected with our organisation are British - no foreign origins, >whilst other supportive and valued individuals come from a variety of countries. >A Canadian and an American offered to HELP us when I met both ladies, out of the blue. >I went to Kuwait on a campaign visit February this year, interviewed hostages' >families and spoke to the sad children who dearly want their 'daddy' or 'mummy' to come >home please. How those people suffered at the hands of some Iraqis whilst illegally >occupying >that Emirate !! I saw evidential documentation, testimonials plus colour >photographs of children >and adults proving all the atrocities which I had heard about >from a variety of sources before going and I felt that I should see the evidence for >myself in order to speak of related matters, on travels, for our freedom campaign. > >The rapes of women and men, tortures with sulphuric acid and various instruments were. >atrocities carried out on the Kuwaiti nation, which I hoped would not be repeated on >any other human being - it was absolutely horrific. > >I met Kuwaiti Red Crescent personnel, medics and volunteers who since 1991 contribute >lots of humanitarian aid to the innocents in Iraq. Kuwaitis work hard helping Iraqis >and I had not known this fact until I went abroad looking for some truth myself. > > Across the globe, humanitarian campaigners and political activists do not > have the full information for their viewpoint comments to News articles, > postings, debates, discussions, news groups, forums, petitions, rallies and > demonstrations - unless these true facts are included throughout considerations. > > I am not asking for sanctions against any country but I am quoting words > of our, own F.C.O. in London which also confirmed the same by telephone. > > "sanctions cannot be lifted until this issue is resolved" - despite > ongoing speculation, plus some media and press now knowingly excluding > these facts also. However, it gets them nowhere, the sanctions stand > it seems until 605 detainees are released by Iraq and they return > 'archives' which they stole from Kuwait. At every meeting regarding > "sanctions" between UN members and our own British Government > representatives the humanitarian issue of 605 hostages plus PoWs held > in Iraq belonging to several countries is discussed. > > Nobody can ignore this matter, otherwise no progress can be made - > evidentially, the past nine years have proven this is true. > > Unless you consider this you miss the point..with respect - miss it yet again ? > > Moonirah > UK --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Weighing in on renewed discussions among Western powers on > Iraq, the senior United Nations official here called on Sunday for an > immediate and unconditional lifting of many sanctions that would open the > way to bigger flows of food, medicine and most other Iraqi imports. > > The official, Hans von Sponek, said a dispute over plans to revive > international weapons inspections in Iraq now posed increasing risks to the > social fabric in a country that has already borne more than nine years of > United Nations sanctions. > > "Don't play the battle on the backs of the civilian population by letting > them wait until the more complex issues are resolved," Sponek, a German who > is the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, said in an > interview here. > > Sponek and his predecessor, Denis Halliday, have long tried to turn > international attention toward the suffering of ordinary Iraqis, even as the > United States and Britain have focused on the intransigence of the Iraqi > Government, and blamed that Government for the travails of its citizens. > > But Sunday, on the eve of expected talks about Iraq at the United Nations, > Sponek spoke in unusually impassioned terms about what he called the dangers > of "using the human shield" in hopes of coaxing Iraqi concessions on arms > issues. > ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? > "Please remove the humanitarian discussions from the rest in order to >really end a silent human tragedy," Sponek said. > ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? > The remarks seemed intended at least in part as a reply to a State > Department report issued last week that held the Iraqi leader, Saddam > Hussein, wholly accountable for the suffering of his people. > > The talks at the United Nations, among the five permanent members of the > Security Council, are intended to seek agreement on a plan that would ease > sanctions on Iraq in exchange for Baghdad's submission to a new system of > weapons inspections to replace one that collapsed late last year. > > The collapse was caused by bitter disputes between Iraq and the United > Nations over access to suspected weapons sites, and it was followed last > December by four days of heavy punitive air strikes by the United States and > Britain. Air strikes that the Iraqi Government says have killed nearly 200 > people have continued sporadically in the nearly 10 months since. > > In that time, members of the Security Council have been unable to agree even > among themselves over how any new system should function and on what terms > it should be introduced. And throughout, the Baghdad Government has turned a > deaf ear to all proposals, insisting instead that the time has come to lift > all of the United Nations sanctions, which have been in force since the > Persian Gulf war of 1991. > > The stalemate has left a United Nations special monitoring commission known > as Unscom unable to carry out its work. Reviled by the Iraqi Government for > its intrusive methods, the commission is now paying the price -- in Baghdad, > its headquarters within a United Nations compound remain padlocked and > shuttered. > > France, Russia and China, among the five permanent Security Council members, > have been sympathetic to Iraq's contention that its Government has > essentially carried out its obligations to the weapons inspectors. Those > Governments now appear to support a plan that would allow an immediate end > to the sanctions in return for Iraq's agreement to a new and less intrusive > system of weapons inspection. > > But the United States and Britain, which believe that Iraq may still be > concealing an illicit weapons program, have argued for tougher terms. > Together with the Netherlands, Britain has called for a plan that would > allow only a moderate easing of the sanctions -- and only after a test > period of several months that would be intended to gauge Iraq's cooperation > with a new inspection regime. > > The United States is seen as likely to support such an approach, but so far > it is still opposed by the other three Council members. Senior officials > from the five countries, who met in London last week, have reported progress > toward a deal, but they also have cautioned that an agreement might not be > possible. > > Sponek, the United Nations representative here, has responsibility only for > humanitarian issues, and not the arms inspections. But even among those who > disagree about weapons inspection, he noted, there is a consensus that > ordinary Iraqis have suffered under the embargo; all, he argued, should move > now to halt what he called their "continuing deprivation." > > Pointing to increases in crime, including prostitution, and the > deteriorating quality of education, Sponek said he believed that Iraq should > be given broad latitude to import any goods that did not also have military > use. > -- > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. > To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT > the whole list. Please do not sent emails with attached files to the list > *** Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html *** -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT the whole list. Please do not sent emails with attached files to the list *** Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html ***