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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. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. 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