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The stress of Office seems to be affecting Peter Hain. Michael Evans (Times 24th October) writes of the Minister's briefing re Saddam City a complex with homes, amusement parks, elephants and deer imported etc. We've been here before. An archeoligical preservation programme in northern Iraq which was written as Saddam's destruction of one of the most ancient sites on earth. Infact it was an excercise in preservation which architects from many countries were participating. I know not of this complex, nor the basis of Mr Hain's certainty, however commonsense dictates that the odd bit of smuggling of cigarettes etc across leaky borders is not beyond the wit of man. Elephants, however are another thing. 'If Saddam sneeszes, we can see him reach for his handkerchief' said James Baker in 1991. 'We can see a coca cola can in a trash can' said an UNSCOM spokesman just prior to departure in 1998. Yet they could'nt see elephants being imported? How did these elephants get there? Overland, obviously - yet these are creatures that need special care, vast transportation vehicles, are endangered and must have vetinary and export certification from each country through which they passed. 'Elephants for Iraq' would be a hell of a story and wld have certainly been discovered by journalists in countries through which they travelled. However, according to the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office they just materialised in Iraq. Perhaps they were pink? -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://www.casi.org.uk