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Copyright 2001 Agence France Presse Agence France Presse February 23, 2001, Friday SECTION: International news LENGTH: 162 words HEADLINE: Norway wants partial lifting of sanctions against Iraq DATELINE: OSLO, Feb 23 BODY: Norway, which heads the UN's sanctions committee on Iraq, will ask the UN Security Council to lift some of the measures imposed on Baghdad after the Gulf War, Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland said Friday. "This proposal for the lifting of certain sanctions that affect the Iraqi population" comes after an analysis by the Norwegian foreign ministry of all requests to send goods to Iraq, Jagland told Norway's NRK radio. Some of those export denials were unjustified, the minister said in an interview with NRK. A trade blockade was put in place against Baghdad at the end of the Gulf War in 1991, but the sanctions regime has come under mounting scrutiny due to its ill effects on the Iraqi civilian population. Norway also heads the United Nations commission that oversees Iraq's compensation payments to Kuwait for damage caused during the Gulf War. The payments come from a 25 percent levy on Iraqi oil revenues under UN control. pcw/sst/tm LOAD-DATE: February 23, 2001 ********************* Copyright 2001 Agence France Presse Agence France Presse February 23, 2001, Friday SECTION: International news LENGTH: 323 words HEADLINE: Security Council ready to reduce sanctions against Iraq: Norway DATELINE: OSLO, Feb 23 BODY: Norway, which heads the UN's sanctions committee on Iraq, says the UN Security Council is sympathetic to a partial lifting of sanctions against Iraq, Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland said Friday. Jagland told Norway's NRK radio that a proposal it had put forward had received a "positive" reception from the permanent members of the Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. "This proposal for the lifting of certain sanctions that affect the Iraqi population" comes after an analysis by the Norwegian foreign ministry of all requests to send goods to Iraq, Jagland told Norway's NRK radio. Some of those export denials were unjustified, he added. According to NRK, the proposal is to lift 80 percent of the sanctions in place against Iraq since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. Only measures banning the import of any equipment that Iraq could use to rebuild its arsenal would remain in place. Iraq banned UN weapons inspectors from its territory after they were evacuated in September 1998 just before US-British air strikes punished Iraq's obstruction of the inspection work. An existing Security Council resolution offers a renewable suspension of sanctions in return for Baghdad's full cooperation with a new disarmament regime. "If the inspectors were once more allowed to travel to Iraq and if checks could be carried out regularly, the sanctions could thus be completely lifted," said Jagland. Jagland and French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine both said on Thursday that the sanctions regime should be revised. It has come under growing scrutiny because of the effect is perceived to be having on the Iraqi civilian population. Norway also heads the United Nations commission that oversees Iraq's compensation payments to Kuwait for damage caused during the Gulf War. The payments come from a 25 percent levy on Iraqi oil revenues under UN control. pcw/jj/tm LOAD-DATE: February 23, 2001 *********************************** Copyright 2001 Deutsche Presse-Agentur Deutsche Presse-Agentur February 23, 2001, Friday, BC Cycle 18:41 Central European Time SECTION: International News LENGTH: 210 words HEADLINE: Norway to propose lifting of U.N. sanctions against Iraq DATELINE: Oslo BODY: Norway will propose to the U.N. Security Council that most of the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq ten year ago after the Gulf War be lifted, public service radio said on Friday. Several permanent members of the Security Council, including the United States, Russia, Britain and France are in favour of the Norwegian proposal, the radio report said. Norway has one of the rotating seats on the council, and took over the chairmanship of the U.N. sanctions committee in January. The proposal, formulated by the Norwegian foreign ministry, would lift the export ban on around 80 per cent of the goods on the sanctions list. "We have gone through all the rejected export applications to Iraq, and shown where unsubstantiated withholding of contracts have taken place," said Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland. "We have shown this to other members of the Security Council, and received a positive response," he said. The sanctions originally were imposed as a means of preventing the Baghdad regime from importing materials for the development of weapons of mass destruction. But critics say the sanctions have caused widespread suffering among Iraq's 24 million people, while the regime and its supporters have prospered. dpa fp eg LOAD-DATE: February 23, 2001 ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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