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[casi] News, 20-27/7/02 (2)



News, 20-27/7/02 (2)

IRAQI/MIDDLE EASTERN-ARAB WORLD RELATIONS

*  Iraq foreign minister visits Algeria
*  Iraq, Iran swap remains of 1,736 soldiers
*  Kuwait warns US over Iraq action
*  Iraq: Men linked to Iran planned sabotage
*  An Iraqi press delegation in Damascus
*  Iraq for an extraordinary session for the AL
*  Iran pays tribute to 570 dead soldiers repatriated by Iraq
*  Al-Jazeera TV News Returns to Iraq
*  Iraq arrests two 'terrorists' linked to Iran
*  Jordan Set to Ink Free Trade Deal With Iraq
*  Morocco- Iraq to boost scientific co-operation
*  Kuwaiti new camp for UN forces: We will not oppose a unanimity to attack
Iraq
*  Iran denies interference in Iraq's affairs
*  Kuwait to get its archives back, rejects striking Iraq
*  MKO [Iranian anti-government guerrilla - hey, that's a word we haven't
heard much of lately! - group] says "terrorist" agents shelled Iraq camp
*  Improving of Iraqi ties with Syria worries west
*  Damascus makes common cause with 'axis of evil'
*  Iraq's Minister Due in Tehran
*  Al-Rai: Iraq ends boycot of Jordanian companies suspected to deal with
Israel

NO FLY ZONES

*  Five Iraqis killed in an American attack [Thursday/Friday, 18th-19th
July]
*  U.S. Planes Attack Iraqi Site [Monday/Tuesday]
*  One Iraqi killed, 22 wounded in a raid against southern Iraq [Tuesday]
*  Pentagon Confirms U.S.-British Air Raid in Southern Iraq [Tuesday]
*  IRAQ: IRAQI MILITARY SPOKESMAN SAYS U.S., BRITISH WARPLANES "VIOLATE IRAQ
AIRSPACE" [Wednesday]

NEW WORLD ORDER

*  Bush missteps make the world more perilous


IRAQI/MIDDLE EASTERN-ARAB WORLD RELATIONS

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020720/2002072012.html

*  IRAQ FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS ALGERIA
Arabic News, 20th July

Iraq's foreign minister Naji Sabril arrived in Algeria in an official visit
lasts for several days during which he holds talks with officials there on
means of strengthening bilateral relations between the two states. Last
Tuesday, the Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butaflika called for the need "
of lifting the repressive sanctions imposed on Iraq, immediately."

The visit comes at the invitation of the Algeria's Minister of State For
Foreign Affairs Abdul Aziz Balkhadem in order to hold talks pertaining to
means of strengthening and developing bilateral relations between the two
countries at all levels."


http://www.iranmania.com/news/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=11228&NewsKin
d=CurrentAffairs&ArchiveNews=Yes

*  IRAQ, IRAN SWAP REMAINS OF 1,736 SOLDIERS
IranMania.com, 21st July

MUNDHARYA, Iraq, July 21 (AFP) - Iraq and Iran on Sunday exchanged the
remains of 1,736 soldiers who died in detention following their 1980-1988
war at this border post, 180 kilometres (112 miles) north of Baghdad.

Officials of Iraq's ruling Baath party, MPs and religious leaders attended
the swap.

Iraq received the remains of 1,166 soldiers, while Iran took possession of
the remains of 570 Iranian soldiers who died in detention in Iraq.

The two neighbours often swap remains of soldiers killed during the war, but
they have yet to sign a formal peace treaty 14 years after the end of their
devastating conflict which cost around one million lives.

The issue of war prisoners has been one of the obstacles to normalisation of
ties, along with the hosting of each other's dissident groups.


http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c
=StoryFT&cid=1027002881684&p=1012571727159

*  KUWAIT WARNS US OVER IRAQ ACTION
by Carola Hoyos
Financial Times, 19th July

Kuwait said yesterday that it would not support a military attack on Iraq if
the US did not first seek United Nations approval.

"Kuwait does not support threats to hit Iraq or to launch an attack against
it," said Sheikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah, Kuwait's defence minister. "Our
acceptance for this matter is conditional on an international blanket
decision within the global organisation," he told Kuwait's al-Rai al-Aam
daily, according to Reuters.

His comments followed assertions by Tony Blair, the UK's prime minister,
that a UN resolution might not necessarily be required to authorise a US-led
attack. Al-Iraq, Iraq's state-run newspaper, yesterday responded: "Wicked
Blair is echoing his American master's threats."

The US faces a possible veto from Russia or China in the Security Council,
but diplomats said Iraq's failure to allow weapons inspectors back into the
country had softened opposition. Carola Hoyos, United Nations correspondent


http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/07/23/iraq.iran/index.html

*  IRAQ: MEN LINKED TO IRAN PLANNED SABOTAGE
CNN, 23rd July

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq said Tuesday that it had intercepted operatives
of a terrorist organization linked to neighboring Iran who were planning
sabotage attacks against the Iraqi regime.

Two men were shown on Iraqi television with the word "criminal" appearing
above their names on the screen. They were identified as Hamza Qassim
Sabbat, known as Abu Haithem, and Ibrahim Abid Jassim, known as Abu Ayoub.

The two were said to have confessed and been sentenced. It isn't clear what
their sentences were or whether they were carried out. The sentence for
treason in Iraq is death.

The men said they were involved in sabotage missions against the ruling
Baath party, the Iraqi government said.

On Iraqi television, Sabbat said that a U.S. attack against Iraq was
expected after September 11 and his group wanted to take advantage of the
likely chaos.

"We brought in some arms and some ammunition and received funds and
equipment to prepare the situation since the idea there was that after
Afghanistan the strike will be on Iraq," he said.

Jassim's statement was similar.

"More sums of money than before was given to us to buy new cars and places
to be used in acts of sabotage to coincide with the American-British attack
and to exploit this attack," Jassim said.

One of the men said he developed contacts in Iran in the early 1980s during
the 1980-1988 war between Iran and Iraq. Both said they also were involved
in the 1991 uprising against the Iraqi regime.

A communique published by the state-run Iraqi News Agency said that security
agents "got through the dens of the lobbies of treason."

The statement said the pair had explained "the terrorist actions of Iranian
regime operatives that follow the enemies' aims against our country and our
people's stability."

It said Iraq considers this action "an obvious interference in the internal
affairs and frankly targeting its sovereignty."

Last week, President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday Hussein, warned Iran not to
interfere if anything, such as a U.S. attack against his country, occurred.

-- CNN's Rym Brahimi contributed to this report.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020723/2002072304.html

*  AN IRAQI PRESS DELEGATION IN DAMASCUS
Arabic News, 23rd July

The Iraqi press delegation chaired by Raheem Mazyed, the secretary of the
press association in Iraq arrived in Damascus on Monday evening at the
invitation of the Syrian Journalists Union. The delegation was welcomed by
the chairman of the Syrian Journalists Union Saber Falhout.

An intensive program was laid for the Iraqi delegation to be acquainted with
the building up and development movement in Syria. The Iraqi delegation will
also meet with Syria's journalists and media people and attend the Syrian
journalists celebrations of their 11th anniversary.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020723/2002072306.html

*  IRAQ FOR AN EXTRAORDINARY SESSION FOR THE AL
Arabic News, 23rd July

Iraq has called on the secretary general of the Arab League Amr Moussa to
convene a special session for the Arab League in order to discus the recent
American threats against it.

In a message sent on Monday to Moussa, the chairman of the Iraqi national
council (speaker of parliament) Saadoun Hammadi said "we suggest convening a
special session for the Arab League council in order to discuss the
aggressive threats of the American administration against Iraq. Threats
which constitute a threat to world peace and security and a flagrant
violations to the UN charter and the international law principles.


http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/international/ap_iran07242002.htm

*  IRAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO 570 DEAD SOLDIERS REPATRIATED BY IRAQ
Boston Herald (from Associated Press), 24th July

TEHRAN, Iran - Thousands of black-clad Iranians beat their heads and chest
in mourning Wednesday during a funeral procession for 570 soldiers, most of
whom perished in Iraqi captivity after the 1980-88 war.

The soldiers remains were repatriated to Iran on Sunday in an exchange in
which Tehran gave Iraq 1,166 bodies.

Tearful men and women threw flowers on coffins draped in the red, white and
green colors of the Iranian flag and carried on open trucks as the
procession moved for hours along the main Enghelab Avenue in downtown
Tehran. The event was broadcast live on state-run TV.

An estimated 1 million soldiers died on both sides in the war.

Iran says Iraq still holds 2,806 of its prisoners. Baghdad denies the claim.

Since the 1988 cease-fire, Iran has released more than 60,000 Iraqi POWs,
while Iraq has freed 40,000 Iranians, said Gen. Abdollah Najafi, an Iranian
army official.

In Wednesday's procession, the first coffin belonged to pilot Abbas Dowran,
who plunged his fighter jet into Baghdad in 1982, ``destroying Iraqi hopes
to host the Non-Aligned Movement summit'' that year, state-run television
reported.

Dowran was identified in the funeral ceremony as Iran's ``national hero''
for his daring Baghdad mission. In his honor, Tehran TV aired a movie
Wednesday that dramatized Dowran's mission.

Those remains that have been identified were to be buried in the soldiers'
hometowns. Unidentified remains - official did not say how many - will be
buried at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Tehran.


http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2002/jul/24/072403043.html

*  AL-JAZEERA TV NEWS RETURNS TO IRAQ
Las Vegas Sun (from ASSOCIATED PRESS), 24th July

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates- The Al-Jazeera satellite news channel resumed
its work in Iraq on Wednesday after the government reversed a ban on one of
its Baghdad reporters, the station's chief editor said.

Dyar al-Umari, an Iraqi, was banned from reporting for 10 days Saturday
because "somebody in Iraq did not like the terminology he used while
reporting" on Iraqi issues, editor in chief Ebrahim Helal told The
Associated Press from his head office in Doha, Qatar.

In response, "we defied the ban by stopping all our operations in Iraq,"
Helal said.

He said an official from the Iraqi Information Ministry complained about the
terminology used by al-Umari, such as "ruling party" to describe President
Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, instead of the official "Arab Socialist Baath
Party."

The Iraqis also didn't like the way al-Umari was referring to Saddam,
calling him "the Iraqi president" or just "Saddam Hussein," instead of using
his long, official title. Helal said the Information Ministry considered
al-Umari's reporting harmful to Iraq.

Helal said al-Umari has been reporting for Al-Jazeera for two years, and
described him as "fair and objective."

There was no comment from Iraq on Wednesday.

Al-Jazeera was the only satellite channel to get exclusive footage from
inside Iraq during the 1998 U.S.-led strikes on Baghdad.

On Wednesday, al-Umari's dispatch included live interview about recent
statements on Iraq by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog, criticized Iraq's ban.

"After Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco and Mauritania, it is
now Iraq's turn to censor Al-Jazeera because it no longer likes its
frankness" Robert Menard, the group's secretary-general, said in a letter
Tuesday to Iraqi Information Minister Saad Mohammed al-Ajmi.

The United States has complained it frequently airs statements by Sept. 11
terror suspect Osama bin Laden and his aides, giving them a forum to address
the Arab audience.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020724/2002072428.html

*  IRAQ ARRESTS TWO 'TERRORISTS' LINKED TO IRAN
Arabic News, 24th July

Iraqi security announced Tuesday that it arrested two terrorists linked to
Iran, saying the pair would make public confessions.

The two individuals "divulged the terrorist actions carried out by the
agencies of the Iranian regime, which are in line with enemy goals against
our country's security," a statement from the public security department
said, INA reported today.

"Iraq's security services managed to infiltrate the labyrinths of treason
thanks to a well-studied security plan and to strike at terror and its
perpetrators," the statement added.


http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=7/24/02&Cat=9&Num=14

*  JORDAN SET TO INK FREE TRADE DEAL WITH IRAQ
Tehran Times, 24th July

BAGHDAD -- Iraq, which has signed a series of free trade agreements with its
Arab neighbors recently amid U.S. threats against its regime, agreed on
Monday to increase its business and economic cooperation with Jordan.

The Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mahdi Saleh signed an agreement "to
enlarge business and economic cooperation" with his visiting Jordanian
counterpart Salah Bashir, the state INA news agency reported.

Bashir, who arrived Friday leading a trade delegation, has met with several
senior Iraqi officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Hekmat Ibrahim
al-Azzawi, and the Industry and Minerals Minister, Mayssar Raja Shalah.

He was earlier in the day quoted in Jordan's 'Al-Doustour' daily as saying
Jordan would follow the example of other Arab states in signing a free trade
agreement with Iraq -- despite Western press reports it is a likely staging
post for a threatened U.S. strike on Jordan's neighbor.

"The Jordanian and Iraqi governments are determined to seal a free trade
agreement," 'Al-Doustour' quoted Bashir as saying during a four-day visit to
Baghdad.

"The deal will be signed in Baghdad soon at the heads of government level,"
Bashir told the paper, without elaborating on when Prime Minister Ali Abu
Ragheb would visit Iraq.

The minister recalled that the two countries were already bound by a trade
agreement dating back to 1957, which grants duty-free access for certain
goods and has helped make Iraq, Jordan's main Arab trade partner.

A free trade agreement would "provide the two countries' private sectors
with more scope to strengthen bilateral trade," he said.

Jordanian exports to Iraq reached $230 million in 2001.

An agreement for the current year provides for that to rise to $260 million.

Jordan also relies on its sanctions-hit neighbor for all its oil supplies
and is expected to import some 5.5 million tons of Iraqi crude this year,
under their current oil arrangement, Jordan receives half the oil supplies
for free and half at a preferential rate below market prices.

Amman would be the 11th Arab government to sign a free trade deal with
Baghdad, in a trend that has sparked mounting concern in Washington.

Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab
Emirates and Yemen have all already ratified such agreements, AFP reported.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020724/2002072427.html

*  MOROCCO- IRAQ TO BOOST SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION
Arabic News, 24th July

Moroccan Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research arrived in
Baghdad "to develop and boost scientific cooperation between Iraq and
Morocco,Ó INA reported today.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020723/2002072305.html

*  KUWAITI NEW CAMP FOR UN FORCES: WE WILL NOT OPPOSE A UNANIMITY TO ATTACK
IRAQ
Arabic News, 23rd July

Kuwait's Minister Of Defense Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on Monday
announced that his country will not take apposition position "to a likely
international unanimity " on attacking Iraq to topple the Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein.

The Kuwaiti minister noted that the American forces in Kuwait have completed
a series of preparations in order to be deployed in new positions to the
southern and northern part of the country near the Iraqi borders.

News reports quoted well-informed sources in the Arab Gulf area saying that
the US is working to reinforce its positions in this oil-rich region
including Qatar and Kuwait and that these moves have no "direct" links to
its plan to topple the Iraqi President.

Jaber said that a new camp has become almost ready to receive the American
forces in southern Kuwait, while western military sources said the camp will
be ready within weeks, noting that four new military positions including
tents and houses were established to the north of Kuwait near the Iraqi
borders.

Sheikh Jaber said that the Americans are currently using "Doha camp," which
they rent from the ministry of public works and construction, and that the
new camp is owned by the Kuwaiti army, and will be put under the service of
the American forces.

Replying to a question on Kuwait's position concerning the likely military
attack against Iraq, the Kuwaiti minister said that his country will support
the attack "if Iraq threatens us", stressing that that the Kuwaitis will not
oppose the international unanimous position if there will be an
international umbrella to cover the military attack.

Meantime, western officials said that certain members of the American
administration believe that toppling Saddam Hussein "will help make a
breakthrough in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict," noting that toppling
Saddam Hussein will make the Arabs more "supportive for the American
inclination in the region." On the other hand, Belgium's Minister of Foreign
Affairs Louis Michel has called on Iraq to start "an effective dialogue"
with the UN. This was expressed following Michel's meeting with Iraqi
counterpart Naji Sabri in Brussels on Monday.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020725/2002072510.html

*  IRAN DENIES INTERFERENCE IN IRAQ'S AFFAIRS
Arabic News, 25th July

Baghdad radio said on Wednesday that the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
received a message of congratulations from his Iranian counterpart Muhammad
Khatami on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of July 1968 revolution,
Iraq's national day.

The message read "I extend to your Excellency and to your country's
government and people congratulations on the occasion of the national day of
Iraq. I do hope that relations between our two countries will further
prosper under the reciprocated efforts and cooperation." Khatami added "I
appeal the Almighty God prosperity and success for the Iraqi people and
government."

However, the message coincided with Iraq's announcement that it has
discovered a terrorist network working for Iran. Tehran rejected these
accusations and said it has no plans to interfere in the internal affairs of
Iraq.

The spokesman for the Iranian government Abdullah Ramadan Zada said "Iran
does not intend to interfere in the internal affairs of other states "be it
a neighbor or not." Ramadan Zada said in a press conference "I strongly deny
that Iran has no [sic-PB] intention to have one inch of the Iraqi soil, and
calls for honoring its unity and territorial integrity."

[.....]


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020725/2002072513.html

*  KUWAIT TO GET ITS ARCHIVES BACK, REJECTS STRIKING IRAQ
Arabic News, 25th July

Kuwait on Wednesday stressed its opposition to a likely attack against Iraq
and said it will take a position similar to that taken by the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) to this effect.

The Kuwaiti daily al-Watan quoted Kuwait's minister of information Ahmad
Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as saying that "Kuwait still clings to its position
in rejecting a strike on Iraq." He added "this is the very official stand of
the state of Kuwait and no change is made in it."

The Kuwaiti minister said "Kuwait will not take any stances nor decisions in
isolation of its sister member states in the GCC, whose members voiced their
rejection to striking Iraq."

Meantime, Kuwait's Minister of State For Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Sabah
Al-Salem Al-Sabah, said in statements issued on Wednesday that Kuwait will
restore back within two months its "national documents and official scripts
Iraq had confiscated during its invasion of Kuwait in 1990." The Kuwaiti
minister added in statements to the Kuwaiti paper al-Anbaa that these
scripts and documents will be returned back to Kuwait through the UN.

He added "it is presumed that these documents will reach us within two
months and we do hope that these documents are the required ones and not
issues of the 'Kuwaiti today' magazine."

The Kuwaiti minister said, replying a question on whether the documents will
be delivered through the Arab League, that "this resolution was issued by
the UN Security Council and we will only accept the documents to reach us
through the UN." On June 6, a UN official announced that Iraq will return
back to Kuwait within 6 weeks its national scripts and official documents
that it had confiscated in 1990.

The UN official, in charge of the prisoners of war affairs and Kuwaiti
properties related issues as a result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in
1990, the Russian Yuli Forontsov, announced that the operation of returning
back the documents will start within one and a half months.


http://www.iranmania.com/news/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=11288&NewsKin
d=CurrentAffairs&ArchiveNews=Yes

*  MKO SAYS "TERRORIST" AGENTS SHELLED IRAQ CAMP
IranMania.com, 25th July

BAGHDAD, July 25 (AFP) - Iran's main armed opposition movement, the MKO,
accused "terrorists" sent by the Iranian government Thursday of shelling one
of its camps in Iraq.

"Terrorists dispatched by the regime in Iran crossed the international
border and attacked Camp Anzali 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Iran-Iraq
border and on the edge of the town of Jalawla, using 60mm mortars," the
Iraq-based group said in a statement.

"The MKO did not suffer any losses, but the mortars hit residential areas
near the camp. Several mortar shells landed close to a residential house,"
said the statement faxed to AFP.

The incident, which occurred at about 1:00 a.m. Thursday, was "the 138th
terrorist attack by the regime against the Iranian resistance in Iraq since
1993," it said.

The MKO often claim military operations in Iran, triggering retaliatory
strikes by Tehran.

[.....]


http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c
=StoryFT&cid=1027608275432&p=1012571727172

*  IMPROVING OF IRAQI TIES WITH SYRIA WORRIES WEST
by Gareth Smyth in Damascus
Financial Times, 25th July

When Hani al Fekaiki, a former Iraqi minister who joined the opposition in
exile, died five years ago, Saddam Hussein's government refused permission
for his burial at home.

Instead he was laid to rest in the next best place - at Sayidah Zeinab, a
Shia Muslim shrine outside Damascus, capital of neighbouring Syria. The
country is linked to Iraq by the Euphrates and millennia of history.

Today, many Iraqi tourists are among the crowds enjoying pistachio ice-cream
and haggling with carpet-sellers in Damascus's Hamidiyyeh souk.

Relations between the two neighbours have vastly improved since Syria
supported the US-led coalition that drove Iraq from Kuwait in 1991.

Trade is booming after border controls were eased two years ago. From almost
zero, Syrian exports to Iraq reached $1bn last year, and oil analysts say
Syria is importing about 150,000 barrels a day of Iraqi oil in contravention
of UN sanctions - a charge Syria denies.

Western diplomats fear that economic ties may produce deeper rapprochement.

At the same time, US dealings with Syria remain tetchy as Washington weighs
up options for military strikes to implement President George W. Bush's
commitment to change Iraq's regime.

Farouq al Sharaa, Syria's foreign minister, said on Thursday that US leaders
"feel that the main weak point in their war is Syria's good relations with
Iraq". And Damascus insists the US has no case in international law for
intervention.

"All Arab countries say 'No', with a capital N," said Adnan Umran, the
information minister. "Half the countries in the world have weapons of mass
destruction, either nuclear or the poorer kind. This is not a reason for the
US to start a war."

Despite Syria-US intelligence co-operation since September 11 against the
al-Qaeda terrorist network, Washington and Damascus are at odds over Syria's
support for militant Palestinian groups and Hizbollah, the Lebanese
resistance movement.

Syria says that "national resistance" justifies these groups in using
violence against the "state terrorism" of Israeli occupation. But the US
designates them terrorist organisations and so calls Syria a "state sponsor
of terrorism".

This gives Syria deep concern over the direction of the US "war on terror"
after the rumoured strikes on Iraq. "Such aggression would set a precedent
that might is right," said Mr Umran. "Where will this lead?"

The debate is frozen. "Semantics over 'terrorism' and legality have not
produced a frank discussion between the US and Syria over strategic
interests," said one analyst. "US policy-making is public and chaotic, which
confuses the Syrians. On the other hand, the mysteries of Syrian
policy-making mean the US isn't sure about Syria's real concerns."

Yet Syrian animosity towards Baghdad goes back to bitter 1960s splits
between the Syrian and Iraqi wings of the ruling Baath party, each
championing Arab nationalism.

And Syria has long been a natural place of exile for the Iraqi opposition.
"No other Arab country has received us as well," said an activist who fled
Baghdad eight years ago. Even the Iraqi National Congress (INC), which has
received US funding, has an office in Syria.

Izzat al Shahbandar, the INC representative, said he had advised the US to
make its aims over Iraq clear to Syria and the Iraqi opposition - both in
terms of level of military commitment and the nature of the regime that
would replace Saddam Hussein.

"The US is discussing attacking Iraq with Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia,
maybe even Iran - but not with Syria," he said. "This makes the Syrians feel
they are being put in the same category as Iraq itself. No wonder Syria is
so confused about what the US wants."

Bayan Jabor, representative of the Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, a Shia Muslim group, said: "Syria has fixed, legitimate
goals over Iraq - no division of the country, and no US strikes on
civilians."

The prospect of US strikes has excited the opposition's hopes of change in
Iraq, but they are also aware of limits to Syria's tolerance of their
activities.

Opposition sources suggest that Iraq's recent efforts to win influence in
Damascus include an offer to hand over Baghdad-based members of the Muslim
Brothers, a Sunni Muslim group whose rebellion was bloodily crushed in Syria
in 1982 by the late president, Hafez al Assad.

But the opposition doubts that recent restrictions on its newspapers
prefigure real political warmth between Syria and Iraq. "We still have
telephone and email contacts, and can receive papers by air mail," said one
activist. "We are staying in a friend's house, so we accept the rules."

"Syria has been good to us," said a former Iraqi artillery commander, who
defected after refusing to fire at an Iranian village during the 1980-88
war. "But against Saddam I would go back and fight again."


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/opinion/26_07_02_c.htm

*  DAMASCUS MAKES COMMON CAUSE WITH 'AXIS OF EVIL'
Daily Star (Lebanon), 26th July

Syria's decision to receive Kim Yong-nam, president of North Korea's Supreme
People's Assembly Presidium, at this particularly sensitive juncture in
Middle East history did not come as a great surprise. Kim's visit -
ostensibly aimed at improving cooperation between the two countries in the
economic, military, political and cultural fields - came at a time when
Washington was trying to impose widespread changes on the region in the
aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The most significant aspect of the Korean official's visit to Damascus,
though, was that it sent a message to US President George W. Bush. Kim, the
No. 2 man in the Pyongyang hierarchy, came to the Syrian capital and held
talks with President Bashar Assad barely a few months after Bush said his
country (along with Iran and Iraq) constituted an "axis of evil."

Bush had heeded the advice of Secretary of State Colin Powell, and desisted
from including Syria in that "axis" despite being urged by hawkish elements
in the US administration to do so.

Powell had urged his boss against ostracizing Syria for two reasons:

1. The readiness expressed by Syria to exchange intelligence concerning
Al-Qaeda with Washington after Sept. 11; and

2. Syria's pivotal role in the quest for a peace settlement in the Middle
East.

But the US-Syrian honeymoon did not last long, due to domestic factors in
both countries. Because hard-line elements in the Bush administration felt
unease at Syria's thaw with Iraq (including the export of Iraqi oil via
Syria) and its hosting of such Palestinian resistance organizations as Hamas
and Islamic Jihad, Washington soon reverted to its old policy of trying to
bully Damascus.

Senior US government officials began implying that Syria might soon join
Iran in the "axis of evil." In his famous June 24 Middle East policy speech,
Bush criticized Damascus, declaring that "Syria must choose the right side
in the 'war on terror' by closing terrorist camps and expelling terrorist
organizations." The Americans also tried to isolate Syria by shutting her
out from a planned international peace conference on the Middle East and
from the "Quartet's" July 16 meeting in New York with a number of Arab
foreign ministers. The US delegation at the talks in New York embraced the
Israeli point of view wholesale, mainly because the Republican
administration did not want to antagonize the Jewish American lobby on the
eve of mid-term congressional elections.

The Syrians are also worried because of America's plans to attack Iraq and
overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein. Damascus has in the past few years
established strong political, economic and security relations with Baghdad.
Moreover, Damascus fears that an overwhelming attack on Iraq might lead to
the disintegration of the country, which would put Syrian strategic
interests in jeopardy.

All this means that relations between the US and Syria have reached a
crossroads. Washington's hostility to both Damascus and Pyongyang has
brought the latter two together more forcefully. "The enemy of my enemy" is,
after all, "my friend." The collapse of the Soviet Union, the chief ally of
both Syria and North Korea, has caused Damascus and Pyongyang to search for
regional and international partners to compensate for the loss of Moscow.

Kim's visit to Damascus coincided with a message of congratulations Assad
sent to Saddam on the anniversary of the July 17 coup that brought the
Baathists to power in Iraq.

Just before the North Korean official arrived in Damascus, Assad was hosting
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, head of the judiciary in the Islamic
Republic and one of the most prominent anti-Khatami conservatives. Shahroudi
is the person most likely to lead the hard-line conservatives in the next
presidential elections in Iran. So, after spending the last couple of years
speaking of "economic reform," creating a "strategic partnership" with the
European Union, entering into a "strategic alliance" with France,
instigating a "dialogue" with Washington, and proclaiming that peace with
Israel is a "strategic option," the Syrians now seem to have chosen to go
the other way: They have been busy consolidating relations with Washington's
adversaries.

Over the last few months, Syria has exchanged visits and promoted
cooperation with Cuba, Iraq, Sudan, and Iran in order to confront the
"tyrannical policies" of the Bush administration and its classification of
the world into good and evil camps. That, at any rate, was what the Syrian
president spoke about in a reception he held for his Korean guest.

And Kim received a rapturous welcome in Damascus. The streets were festooned
with flags and bunting, and the two sides pledged their determination to
further develop cooperation, building on the foundations laid down by the
"immortal leaders Hafez Assad and Kim Il Sung."

In short, Damascus is defying Washington's efforts to isolate it by adopting
even more activist positions. In order to face up to the hard-line policies
embraced by Bush, Syria is improving its relations with his "opponents."
Obduracy, after all, breeds obduracy - and such is the case with affinity.

Ibrahim Hamidi is a Damascus-based journalist specialized in Syrian current
affairs. He wrote this commentary for The Daily Star


http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=7/27/02&Cat=2&Num=006

*  IRAQ'S MINISTER DUE IN TEHRAN
Tehran Times, 27th June

TEHRAN -- Iraqi Minister of Culture and Information Hamed Yusuf Hemadi,
heading a high-ranking cultural delegation, will arrive in Tehran today, the
Majlis Public Relations Office reported on Wednesday.

Upon an invitation from his Iranian counterpart Ahmad Masjed-Jamei, Hemadi
is to pay an official visit to Iran.

During his five-day stay in Tehran, he will hold talks with Masjed-Jamei.

The Iraqi minister is scheduled to visit the Golestan Museum, Carpet Museum
and the Museum of Contemporary Arts as well as a number of cultural heritage
workshops, IRNA reported.

Members of the Iraqi delegation will also visit the holy city of Mashhad and
the historical city of Isfahan.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020727/2002072706.html

*  AL-RAI: IRAQ ENDS BOYCOT OF JORDANIAN COMPANIES SUSPECTED TO DEAL WITH
ISRAEL
Arabic News, 27th July

A Jordanian official has stated that Iraq ended its boycott of 14 Jordanian
companies used to be suspected of establishing trade relations with Israel,
after Iraq made sure that such relations did not exist.

The Jordanian daily al-Rai on Thursday quoted Maher al-Naser, chairman of
Irbid chamber of industry, saying that "Iraq's decision to resume dealings
with these companies came after negotiations held by the minister of
industry and commerce Salah Eddin al-Bashir with several Iraqi officials
during his recent visit to Baghdad, and after Iraq had made sure that such
relations do not exist." Al-Nasser added that al-Bashir stressed to the
Iraqi officials that "there are no trade relations of such companies with
Israel." Al-Bashir also called on the Iraqis to "reconsider boycotting 50
Jordanian companies" Iraq suspects of dealing with Israel."

The Iraqi side showed understanding for the Jordanian demands, according to
the same source.


NO FLY ZONES

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020720/2002072003.html

*  FIVE IRAQIS KILLED IN AN AMERICAN ATTACK
Arabic News, 20th July

Five Iraqis were killed and other 17 wounded in a raid carried out by
American planes on Friday a residential areas in the southern part of Iraq.

An Iraqi military spokesman said that the US planes targeted the residential
buildings in "the mechanic quarters" in al-Dewaneh city and this resulted in
killing five persons and wounding other 17.

Iraqi sources however, said that 1483 Iraqis have been killed and other 1400
wounded in earlier air raids carried out earlier by British and American
jets.


http://cgi.wn.com/?action=display&article=14783199&template=baghdad/indexsea
rch.txt&index=recent

*  U.S. PLANES ATTACK IRAQI SITE
The Associated Press, 23rd July

WASHINGTON: For the second time in recent days U.S. warplanes bombed a
military communications site in southern Iraq, officials said Tuesday.

A brief announcement by the U.S. Central Command said Monday's attack was in
response to earlier instances of Iraqi air defense forces using radar and
surface-to-air guns against U.S. and British planes that monitor a "no fly''
zone over southern Iraq.

Monday's attack and a similar one last Thursday against the same
communications target, were acts of self defense, the Central Command said.
The site was near Diwaniyah, about 80 miles southeast of Baghdad.

[.....]


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020724/2002072412.html

*  ONE IRAQI KILLED, 22 WOUNDED IN A RAID AGAINST SOUTHERN IRAQ
Arabic News, 24th July

The American and British planes on Tuesday and for the second time within
one week bombarded Iraqi civilian areas. The bombardment resulted in killing
one Iraqi citizen and wounding 22, according to an Iraqi military spokesman.

In Florida, the US forces leadership center said that the allied planes
bombarded an Iraqi radar position near al-Dewaneyah, 130 Km southern east of
Baghdad.

Baghdad said that one Iraqi was killed and 22 wounded in the raid launched
by American and British planes against "civilian and service firms to the
south of Iraq." An Iraqi military spokesman said that the planes came from
the Kuwaiti airspace supported by an AWACS plane from the Saudi airspace.

Worthy mentioning that just three days ago five Iraqis were killed and other
17 strongly wounded in raids carried out by American and British planes at
one of the residential areas, also located in al-Dewaneyah city.


http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=7/25/02&Cat=4&Num=8

*  PENTAGON CONFIRMS U.S.-BRITISH AIR RAID IN SOUTHERN IRAQ
Tehran Times, 25th July

WASHINGTON -- U.S. military officials confirmed Tuesday that coalition
forces had launched an air raid on communications facilities in southern
Iraq, saying they had no information on casualties.

The U.S. Central Command said the raid was in response to recent Iraqi
hostile acts against coalition aircraft.

There have been more than 65 such incidents this year, a statement said.

"Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons yesterday (Monday) to
strike a military cable repeater station and communications facilities in
southern Iraq at approximately 10:00 P.M.
EDT (0200 GMT Tuesday)," the statement said. The statement did not specify
whether the aircraft belonged to the United States, Britain or both nations.

Earlier, an Iraqi military official told state television that one Iraqi had
been killed and 22 others injured in the air raids.

The spokesman said the raids had targeted "civilian installations" in Kut,
170 kilometers (105 miles) south of Baghdad, and in Al-Qadissiyah Province,
some 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital.

"As usual, we have no way of confirming allegations of casualties,"
Lieutenant Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said. The Central
Command statement said U.S. and British crews "never target civilian
populations or infrastructure and go to painstaking lengths to avoid injury
to civilians and damage to civilian facilities."

[.....]


http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=displaynews&doc_id=NR20020725670.2
_55da0000ca53467a

*  IRAQ: IRAQI MILITARY SPOKESMAN SAYS U.S., BRITISH WARPLANES "VIOLATE IRAQ
AIRSPACE"
Hoover's (Financial Times), 25th July

A spokesman for Iraq's Air Defense Command told the official Iraq News
Agency that United States and British warplanes "violated Iraq's airspace"
on Wednesday, coming from bases in Turkey. The spokesman said the U.S and
British warplanes carried out 16 sorties from Turkish airspace. The
warplanes flew over areas of Zakho, Amadiya, Aqra, Duhok, Dokan, Arbil and
Rawandoz, according to INA. Since December 17, 1998 up till July 25, 2002,
the U.S and British warplanes carried out a total of 40,650 sorties from
Saudi, Kuwaiti and Turkish airspace, of which 8,982 sorties were from
Turkish airspace, the agency added.


NEW WORLD ORDER

http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.policy21jul21.story?coll=bal
%2Doped%2Dheadlines

*  BUSH MISSTEPS MAKE THE WORLD MORE PERILOUS
by Melvin A. Goodman
Baltimore Sun, 21st July

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has taken a series of steps that will
weaken the international coalition against terrorism, compromise the pursuit
of arms control and encourage the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

These steps have not been discussed with congressional committees or debated
in the foreign policy community. Many of these moves have reversed major
tenets of American foreign policy and have weakened our international
security.

President Bush used a commencement address at West Point to call for a
policy of pre-emptive attack against states and terrorist groups trying to
develop WMD. Mr. Bush's remarks produced an angry reaction in Europe, where
opposition has been mounting to U.S. plans for a national missile defense,
the withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty of 1972 and
Washington's lack of support for the International Criminal Court.

Any policy of pre-emption will undermine the importance of self-defense in a
decision to use military force and will be extremely dependent on timely
intelligence, which was lacking in the events that led to the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11. Poor intelligence led to the erroneous bombings of an
Afghan wedding party this month, the Chinese embassy in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia, in 1999 and a pharmaceutical plant in the Sudan in 1998.

The first target on the Bush list for preemption is obviously Iraq, where
there is no evidence that Baghdad has been able to reconstitute its WMD
capabilities. The president also has lifted the ban on CIA assassination
plots in order to target Saddam Hussein and is considering a full-scale
military invasion, according to reports leaked from the Pentagon.

Such action against Iraq would create greater instability in Southwest Asia,
isolate the United States in the Islamic world and weaken the successful
coalition against terrorism. The president has agreed to increase support to
Iraqi opposition groups, which have been useless in the effort to weaken Mr.
Hussein, and to allow CIA and U.S. Special Forces teams to target the Iraqi
leader.

CIA assassination plots against Fidel Castro, Patrice Lumumba - the first
prime minister of the Republic of Congo, now Zaire, who was killed in 1961 -
and others worsened U.S. security interests and led President Gerald Ford
and all his successors to ban such actions.

The president's initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian situation offers no
end to the extremist actions of both sides and no hope to moderates in both
camps who favor an end to the cycle of violence of recent years.

The United States should be calling for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from
Palestinian towns and villages and should not be endorsing Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's failed policy to unseat Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat. Even Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has been critical of Mr.
Bush's speech, and the entire Arab community is critical that no nod was
given to the Saudi plan for an international conference to defuse the
situation.

The Bush administration previously decided to ignore the international
opposition to a national missile defense and move pell-mell toward a
strategic defense initiative that meant withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, the
cornerstone of deterrence for the past 30 years.

These steps led Russia to withdraw from the START II nuclear arms treaty,
which could mean the return of multiple independently targeted re-entry
vehicles on Russia's intercontinental ballistic missile fleet, and
presumably will lead to a larger strategic inventory in China.

The president missed a major opportunity in Russia in May when he failed to
sign a treaty that would have destroyed thousands of strategic and tactical
nuclear missiles. Instead, Mr. Bush allowed Russia to place thousands of
these weapons in storage, where they represent a greater security risk
because of inadequate monitoring and the threat of theft and misuse.

The administration is working by the seat of its pants to advance very
narrow short-term interests and ignoring the potential for a greater abyss
of violence in unstable and unpredictable regions. Instead of finding ways
to limit the strategic arsenals of the nuclear powers and to effectively
destroy reserve nuclear forces, the administration has sanctioned greater
uses for nuclear weapons and even the first-use of such weapons.

These policies will lead to the greatest peacetime increases in defense
spending since the Reagan administration, which led to record levels of
deficit and domestic economic problems.

The tragic events of Sept. 11 created excellent opportunities for creating a
coalition against terrorism and improving the international position of the
United States, but the Bush administration has squandered them.

Melvin A. Goodman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy
in Washington and an adjunct professor of government at American University
and the Johns Hopkins University.




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