[casi] News, 27/7-3/8/02 (3)

[Peter Brooke <pbrooke@DELETETHISukonline.co.uk>]

News, 27/7-3/8/02 (3)

BACK IN THE UN

*  Dangers of going it alone against Saddam
*  Weapons inspections were 'manipulated'
*  Iraq complains against US prevention of 2000 civilian contracts
*  Iraq Asks U.N. Inspector For Meeting
*  Blix underlines gulf separating UN and Iraq
*  Strikes on Iraq will be unwise: Annan
*  How the inspections broke down
*  Prospects remain dim for inspectors allowed in sites
*  Powell Rejects Iraqi Invitation to UN Arms Inspector
*  Russia hails Iraqi decision to invite chief UN weapons inspector to
Baghdad

BACK IN IRAQ

*  Depleted Uranium held responsible for Down's Syndrome in Iraq: Study
*  Iraq stops visas for Asian groups
*  Iraq to sue French company over AIDS polluted blood
*  Pracsi gets seven Iraqi contracts worth $1.6m
 *  Iraq: report on construction of a detection and prevention system
against environmental contamination
*  Iraq Goes Quiet on Invasion Date

BACK IN THE KURDISH AUTONOMOUS ZONE

*  Kurds, 'Al Qaida men' in tense stand-off
*  Narsai David, a Bay Area link to north Iraq



BACK IN THE UN

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c
=StoryFT&cid=1027694134026&p=1012571727172

*  DANGERS OF GOING IT ALONE AGAINST SADDAM
by Carola Hoyos, United Nations correspondent
Financial Times, 29th July

"The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the
peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make
recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with
Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and
security," United Nations Charter, Chapter 7, Article 39.

And therein lies the rub.

US and UK efforts to bypass the United Nations Security Council and still
justify an invasion of Iraq under international law were floundering,
diplomats and lawyers said. "We must certainly take any action in accordance
with international law but. . . it does not in our view necessarily mean
that there is a new United Nations resolution," Tony Blair, UK prime
minister, told parliament this month.

International lawyers and ambassadors on the Security Council are not
convinced. They say that ignoring the highest authority on international law
could turn out to be a perilous mistake.

"No matter how big you are, if you don't have moral authority, you get into
trouble pretty quickly," said one diplomat. "You can't win just because you
are big and tough. It is the force of argument rather than the argument of
force that counts."

The stakes of acting without international backing have risen significantly
since the International Criminal Court came into effect on July 1. Without
international support, the UK - which unlike the US has ratified the court -
is vulnerable to having its officials and soldiers tried for war crimes.

For the US, going it alone could also greatly weaken the international
co-operation it has relied on for its war on terror. European countries that
disagreed with US policy, for example, could begin to refuse extradition
requests for suspected terrorists. But getting the backing from the other 13
members of the Security Council is a tall order.

Fearing failure, US and UK officials have already begun to argue that
existing UN resolutions on Iraq - especially resolution 687, which ended the
Gulf War in 1991 - are enough to justify military action.

Lawyers disagree. The ceasefire agreement does not allow any state to punish
Iraq's non compliance with force. That decision is left up to the Security
Council.

Though there was little consternation during the US air campaign against
Iraq in 1998, the US plan to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Iraq's president, is
in a different league, diplomats argue.

Garnering support from the Security Council will not be easy and few UN
observers expect President George W. Bush to expend as much energy getting
the UN Security Council to bless every move in a war against Iraq as his
father did in 1990. The biggest hurdle to Security Council agreement this
time are permanent members China and Russia, which oppose military action
and could veto any resolution.

The task, however, is not impossible, one senior member of the Security
Council said. "If Saddam Hussein keeps saying no [to UN weapons
inspections], the mood in the council could be quite in favour of action,"
he said.

At stake is not only whether other countries will feel comfortable enough to
help the US by supplying bases and fly-over authorisations - Kuwait has
already warned that a Security Council is a pre-condition for its support -
but their co-operation in the broader war on terror.


http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c
=StoryFT&cid=1027953256453&p=1012571727172

*  WEAPONS INSPECTIONS WERE 'MANIPULATED'
by Carola Hoyos in New York, Nick George in Stockholm and Roula Khalaf in
Baghdad
Financial Times, 29th July

Rolf Ekeus, head of United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq from 1991-97,
has accused the US and other Security Council members of manipulating the
United Nations inspections teams for their own political ends.

The revelation by one of the most respected Swedish diplomats is certain to
strengthen Iraq's argument against allowing UN inspectors back into the
country.

Kofi Annan, UN secretary-general, and Hans Blix, the UN's new chief weapons
inspector, have for the past several months tried to negotiate a return of
the inspectors with Naji Sabri, Iraq's foreign minister. Nearly every member
of the UN is counting on a diplomatic breakthrough to avoid a US military
attack against Iraq.

Speaking to Swedish radio, Mr Ekeus said there was no doubt that countries,
especially the US, attempted to increase their influence over the
inspections to favour their own interests. "As time went on, some countries,
especially the US, wanted to learn more about other parts of Iraq's
capacity."

Mr Ekeus said the US tried to find information about the whereabouts of
Saddam Hussein, Iraq's president. He said he was able to rebuff such moves
but that the pressure mounted after he left in 1997.

Most damning, he said that the US and other members of the Security Council
pressed the teams to inspect sensitive areas, such as Iraq's ministry of
defence when it was politically favourable for them to create a crisis
situation. "They, [Security Council members] pressed the inspection
leadership to carry out inspections which were controversial from the
Iraqis' view, and thereby created a blockage that could be used as a
justification for a direct military action," he said.

In a separate interview with Svenska Dagbladet, the Swedish newspaper, Mr
Ekeus said that he had learnt after he left his position that the US had
placed two of its own agents in the group of inspectors.

With the US determined to topple the Iraqi regime, officials in Baghdad
argue that the return of inspectors at this time is certain to lead to
intelligence gathering and to deliberate provocation on their part, thus
giving legitimacy to a US attack.

Mr Sabri, Iraqi foreign minister, insists that Mr Blix has come under US
pressure not to agree to any compromise with Baghdad.

Iraqi officials have been greatly frustrated - most recently at the talks
with the UN in Vienna last month - by the Security Council's decision not to
allow Mr Blix to discuss with Baghdad the key remaining disarmament tasks
before inspectors return to the country.

Inspections based on a US agenda, says Mr Sabri, are simply impractical.
"They proved a complete failure. The inspectors were procrastinating,
prolonging the sanctions and providing a pretext for action against Iraq."


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020801/2002080104.html

*  IRAQ COMPLAINS AGAINST US PREVENTION OF 2000 CIVILIAN CONTRACTS
Arabic News, 1st August

The Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri has stressed that the American-
British interference have obstructed the work progress of the "oil for food
program" and resulted in suspending more than 2000 civilian contracts at a
cost of $ 5 billion under illegal and non humanitarian pretexts.

In a statement issued by the Iraqi foreign ministry on Wednesday, Sabri said
that the recent British- US practices in imposing oil prices, that are not
at market value, on the memorandum of understanding resulted in a large
reduction of the program's revenues. He explained that this policy is a new
form of the policy aiming at suspending contracts with the aim of depriving
Iraq from benefiting from its resources to meet its basic humanitarian
needs.

This comes as Iraq said, as reported by INA yesterday, that the US
"terrorist aggression" through "the air raids launched by US and British
warplanes on Iraqi cities, villages and infrastructure is a flagrant
aggression, continued state terrorism and rough interference in Iraq's
internal affairs. Iraq affirmed that the U.S. and British imposition of the
so-called no fly zones on southern and northern Iraq is a blatant violation
of UN Charter, international law and Security Council resolutions which
stressed on respecting Iraq's sovereignty, territorial integrity and
political independence. It is an armed aggression on Iraq since 1991."


http://cgi.wn.com/?action=display&article=14946984&template=baghdad/indexsea
rch.txt&index=recent

*  IRAQ ASKS U.N. INSPECTOR FOR MEETING
The Associated Press, 1st August

UNITED NATIONS: In a surprise move, Iraq invited the chief U.N. weapons
inspector to Baghdad Thursday for talks it said could lead to a return of
inspectors after nearly four years.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan saying the government would like chief inspector Hans Blix and
U.N. weapons experts to come to Baghdad ``at the earliest agreed upon
time.''

Annan has been trying to persuade the Iraqis to allow U.N. inspectors to
return but three rounds of talks since March have failed to make any
headway. At the end of the last round in Vienna on July 5 which Blix
attended, Annan and Sabri agreed that technical talks would continue.

The letter from Sabri to Annan, dated Thursday, for the first time mentions
the return of inspectors.

Sabri said his government wants the talks between Blix and Iraqi experts to
review the remaining questions about Iraq's weapons programs and decide on
measures to resolve them ``when the inspection regime returns to Iraq.''

Sabri said the meeting would follow-up on Annan's suggestion in August 1998
``to conduct a comprehensive review ... and assess the degree of Iraq's
implementation of its obligations.''

``We believe that this review will be an important step towards the
appropriate legal and technical assessment and treatment of the issues of
disarmament and to establish a solid base for the next stage of monitoring
and inspection activities...,'' he said.

The United Nations imposed sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of
Kuwait. Under U.N. Security Council resolutions, sanctions can be lifted
only when inspectors certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons have been destroyed, along with the long range missiles that could
deliver them.

The United States has warned Saddam he faces unspecified consequences if he
does not allow the return of the inspectors, who left ahead of 1998 allied
airstrikes meant to punish Iraq for blocking inspections.


http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c
=StoryFT&cid=1028185371586&p=1012571727172

*  BLIX UNDERLINES GULF SEPARATING UN AND IRAQ
by Carola Hoyos
Financial Times, 2nd August

[.....]

In an interview with the FT, Mr Blix pinpointed the differences between the
two sides: "Before they [Iraq] take any decision on whether they will accept
any inspections or not, they would like to establish with us an
understanding of which are the unresolved issues, and secondly which is the
relative importance of these issues and thirdly, how will these issues be
tackled.

"However, the [security] council has asked us to present this programme
after some months of inspection in Iraq for the very good reason that before
presenting it we need to see what changes have occurred on the ground in
Iraq since the end of 1998. So as you can see, long as this [Iraqi] position
remains there, there is no path forward."  

Baghdad has long maintained that UN weapons inspectors acted as spies in
Iraq, allegations that were most recently endorsed this week by the Rolf
Ekeus, chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991-97.

Iraq has barred inspectors from returning to the country since they left on
the eve of the US led bombing campaign in December 1998. In 1999, the
Security Council disbanded the former Unscom weapons teams, in whom several
members of the council had lost faith, and created Unmovic.

Mr Blix has worked hard to try to distance his teams from their
predecessors. "Unscom was to a very large extent directly dependent from
staffing, financing equipment upon the member states. Unmovic in the first
place has an independent financing," he said.

He said intelligence sharing would be a "one way street," satellite imagery
would be bought commercially, rather than accepted from governments, and
that he was looking for an alternative for the secure debriefing facility in
Bahrain that had been provide by four countries (the UK, US, Australia and
Canada).

"We have said that we will do our damnedest to prevent our staff from
communicating to serve individual governments," he said.

Mr Ekeus accused the US of manipulating the teams of Richard Butler, Mr
Blix's predecessor, by inserting spies and pressuring inspectors to create
crises between the inspectors and Iraq when it was politically convenient.

Mr Blix said that the administration of President George W. Bush has been
better than that of Bill Clinton at respecting the neutrality of the UN
weapons inspectors. Security Council members "still ask member states to
assist Unmovic, but it seems to me that they were determined to draw lines
between what we do and them," Mr Blix said - adding: "So far, this has
worked."

Iraq nevertheless still fears that UN weapons inspectors will aid the US in
its efforts to dislodge Mr Saddam.

"It is totally inadmissible for us to try to learn about conventional
weapons," he said, given that they are not outlawed by the UN. He added: "In
terms of targeting, it is very likely that the Americans have whatever
targets they need for the future."

But he insisted his teams would include "all nationalities" including
Americans - an issue that could well become a point of contention between
the UN and Iraq as long as the US continues to threaten to overthrow Mr
Saddam. "It would be unacceptable for us to have anything but the ordinary
UN composition."

So far the US administration appears to have had a mixed impression of the
usefulness of Mr Blix and his teams of inspectors-in-waiting. Donald
Rumsfeld, defence secretary, has been the biggest sceptic.

But Mr Blix dismissed suggestions that the US defence department had been
trying to undermine his authority when it ordered the CIA to conduct a check
on his past. "I thought it was true what they said, that they routinely
asked for these things about a variety of people. Though I thought they
could have perhaps asked the State Department, who have known me from 16
years in Vienna. My record was not particularly secret."

Mr Blix headed the International Atomic Energy Agency, which based in the
Austrian capital, before becoming chief weapons inspector.


http://www.dawn.com/2002/08/02/int3.htm

*  STRIKES ON IRAQ WILL BE UNWISE: ANNAN
Dawn, 2nd August, 22 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1423

DUBAI, Aug 1: UN Secretary General Koffi Annan warned on Thursday the United
States against military action to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
saying new strikes would not be "wise".

"I think my position is very clear since I have spoken on the subject
several times," Annan told the Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat after the leaking
of the latest in a long list of reported US military plots to overthrow
saddam Hussein.

"I have said that striking Iraq would not be wise," Annan stressed. The US
policy of ousting Saddam "is not the UN's (policy) and the Security Council
has taken no decision about this," he said. Annan added that he had "neither
the desire nor the mandate to prepare the ground for military action"
against Iraq. But he ruled out a re-run of his trip to Baghdad in Feb 1998
when he negotiated a last-minute deal to allow UN weapons inspectors access
to sensitive "presidential" sites and avoid punitive US and British air
strikes. "I have no plans to visit Baghdad for the time being," the UN chief
said.

[.....]


http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,768434,00.html

*  HOW THE INSPECTIONS BROKE DOWN
by Linda MacDonald
The Guardian, 3rd August

April 3 1991 UN security council passes resolution 687, dictating terms of
Gulf war ceasefire. Requires Iraq to declare and destroy weapons of mass
destruction and ballistic missile delivery systems. Also establishes UN
special commission (Unscom) to monitor and verify elimination of weapons

May 1991 Unscom begins inspections in Iraq

February 1992 Security council condemns lack of full compliance

July 1992 Unscom personnel try to enter agriculture ministry in Baghdad
without warning for inspection. They are blocked and begin 24-hour
observation. Forced to leave country after being attacked by mobs in street

July 1993 Unscom prevented from installing monitoring cameras at two missile
test stands. Government backs down under threat of international military
action

June 1994 Unscom destroys chemical warfare agents

June 1996 Inspectors denied access to sites associated with Republican Guard
and Special Republican Guard, believed to be involved in concealment of
weapons. Iraq denies access to four of six sites, saying they are
presidential areas. Iraq condemned in August for gross violations of UN
resolutions

June 1997 Iraq again blocks Unscom from certain sites

October 1997 Iraq refuses to deal with US personnel working for Unscom

November 1997 Resolution 1137 condemns continued violation by Iraq

November 1997 Russians secure return of Unscom

January 1998 Iraq continues to block inspection teams

October 31 1998 Iraq ends all cooperation with Unscom

December 16 1998 Special commission withdraws staff from Iraq, Unscom
disbanded

December 17 1999 Resolution 1284 creates UN monitoring, verification and
inspection commission (Unmovic) to replace Unscom. Iraq rejects resolution

March 1 2000 Hans Blix assumes post of Unmovic executive chairman

November 2000 Deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz rejects new weapons
inspection proposals

March/May 2002 UN secretary general Kofi Annan unable to persuade Iraqi
representatives to allow inspectors' return

July 5-6 Talks in Vienna between Annan and Iraq's foreign minister, Naji
Sabri, fail.

July 25 2002 Sabri says any agreement must include route towards lifting
sanctions, ending threats of regime change, and end to no-flight zones

August 2002 Iraq invites chief weapons inspector to Baghdad for talks on
resuming inspections


http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=320954

*  PROSPECTS REMAIN DIM FOR INSPECTORS ALLOWED IN SITES
by Charles Duelfer
The Independent, 3rd August

Iraq is offering to accept inspectors in some fashion as a tactic to derail
international support for an American military build-up against the regime.
But even if they do get into Iraq, their prospects are dim.

The United Nations inspectors have been and will be caught between the
conflicting goals of Baghdad, Washington and other Security Council members.
Their ability to succeed is limited by Iraq's lack of co-operation and the
council's inability to force compliance.

Baghdad views weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as vital to survival of the
regime. Chemical weapons were used in the war on Iran. Iraq believes its
arsenal in 1991 helped to stop America from marching on Baghdad.

UN inspections, at best, may delay or complicate Iraq's weapons programme.
Unscom, the former weapons-inspection team, tried for seven years to account
for all Iraqi programmes. That tortured experience yielded partial
compliance. Iraq gave up what it was forced to expose, and retained the
rest.

The continuous cat-and-mouse game, and episodic American and British
bombing, have given Baghdad excellent practice in concealing weapons.

The UN inspectors have, on paper, the right to immediate, unconditional,
unrestricted access ­ words that sound good in New York but are difficult to
implement in Iraq. Practicalities intrude.

For example, is it reasonable to demand that Iraq turn off its entire air
defence system so inspectors may fly into Iraq anytime, and anywhere?
Baghdad will reasonably point out that it has a legitimate air defence
system and some accommodation must be made to provide information on UN
flights.

>From this, the Iraqi government can derive warning information on
inspections. Similar accommodations will sprout in virtually all inspection
activities.

Iraq's close monitoring of all inspection activities meant "no-notice"
inspections rarely equated to surprise inspections. Unscom conducted
hundreds of no-notice inspections. Only a few, though, were truly surprise
inspections, and they developed into confrontations, delays and blockages.

If the UN-Iraqi process goes ahead, how will we know if a serious inspection
regime is planned? One test will be whether activity since Unscom left in
late 1998 will be investigated. Credible defectors report that Iraq has
since expanded its WMD programmes.

The UN database includes the 200-300 important personnel from Iraq's earlier
efforts. If the programmes have continued, many of these individuals will be
involved. Inspectors must interview them without government presence to
verify their work since 1998.

Does non-cooperation by Iraq mean they are not complying? Is war justified
simply because some stubborn inspector was blocked from a sensitive security
warehouse? If America is serious, it should not centre its argument on the
inspection issue.

Washington needs to make a broader case. It needs to show the threat is
broad and growing. To say Iraqis should change their own government is
disingenuous . Outside intervention is needed to create conditions in which
Iraqis can change their government.

The potential of Iraq will never be realised under this regime. A country
that should be the engine of development in the Middle East will remain a
contorted and dangerous mutant threatening the region and beyond. And the
people will continue to suffer.

Charles Duelfer served as deputy chairman from 1993 to 2000 of Unscom. He is
a visiting scholar at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington.


http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=99FF1579-1227-44D1
ACDDABBAB8B7D6DE&title=Powell%20Rejects%20Iraqi%20Invitation%20to%20UN%20Arm
s%20Inspector&catOID=45C9C78F-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C

*  POWELL REJECTS IRAQI INVITATION TO UN ARMS INSPECTOR
Voice of America News, 3rd August

Secretary of State Colin Powell has rejected Iraq's call for the United
Nations' chief arms inspector to visit Baghdad for talks.

Speaking to reporters Saturday in Manila, where he has been meeting with
Philippine officials, Mr. Powell said Iraq is trying to evade its
requirement to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.

A senior U.S. official says Iraq knows what it has to do, and that is to
give U.N. arms inspectors unrestricted access to possible weapons sites.

In a letter delivered to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Thursday, Iraq's
foreign minister (Naji Sabri) invited the chief U.N. arms inspector (Hans
Blix) to come to Baghdad to review disarmament issues, hinting that weapons
inspections could resume after a break of nearly four years.

Secretary-General Annan says he will discuss Iraq's offer with the U.N.
Security Council on Monday. Mr. Annan's spokesman (Fred Eckhard) notes that
Iraq's proposal does not follow procedures laid out by the Security Council.

British officials also have expressed skepticism about the Iraqi invitation.
A British spokesman says Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has "a long history
of playing games."

Russia, however, says the Iraqi invitation is "an important step" toward
solving Baghdad's differences with the United Nations.

In a resolution three years ago, the Council said Iraq would have to
re-admit U.N. inspection teams and then allow on-site inspections for at
least 60 days before the chief inspector would open talks on what remains to
be done. U.N. arms experts left Baghdad in December of 1998, and Iraq has
since barred their return.

[.....]


http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-08/02/content_508888.htm

*  RUSSIA HAILS IRAQI DECISION TO INVITE CHIEF UN WEAPONS INSPECTOR TO
BAGHDAD

MOSCOW, Aug. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia hailed on Friday Iraq's invitation to
Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification
and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) to visit Baghdad and discuss a possible
resumption of monitoring Iraqi disarmament program.

"Moscow believes that the Iraqi invitation is an important steptowards the
settlement of the problem by political-diplomatic means in accordance with
the UN Security Council's corresponding resolutions," the Russian foreign
ministry stated.

The Russian foreign ministry pointed out that the invitation came right
after a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander
Saltanov had made a trip to Iraq and some otherstates of the region. During
the visit, much consideration was given to the exchange of views on possible
ways to unblock the Iraqi problem.

[.....]


BACK IN IRAQ

[No URL - from the Chaldean News Agency news list]

Baghdad ­ Iraq , 26 July, 2002

Responding to the report published by the Chaldean News Agency (CNA) on 28
February, 2002 and entitled "Iraqi Government: Racist and Repressive Decrees
Against Christians and Chaldeans", the Iraqi government set up a high
profile committee to study the issues raised by that report. The committee
that's chaired by a member of the Presidential Office, also included the
Minister of Religious Endowment as well as other high ranking members from
the Military Intelligence, Internal Intelligence, Ministry of Education and
two bishops from the Chaldean Church of the East.

The role of the committee will be an advisory one and will only concentrate
on the religious aspects of the complaints raised by the CNA report. Issues
of ethnic or political nature were not considered.. So far, the committee
has held three meetings in an attempt to generate a list of recommendations
that will be submitted for approval to the Revolutionary Command Council,
the highest executive body in the Iraqi government.

It's hoped that the recommendations issued by that presidential committee
and their subsequent approval will rectify some of the complaints raised by
the Chaldean News Agency regarding series of decrees that impacted
negatively the Christian population of Iraq.


BACK IN IRAQ

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200207/29/eng20020729_100479.shtml

*  DEPLETED URANIUM HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR DOWN'S SYNDROME IN IRAQ: STUDY
People's Daily, 29th July

The depleted uranium left behind by Western allies forces, not the advanced
maternal age, should be considered as the main cause of increasing cases of
Down's syndrome in Iraq, said a research report published Sunday in the
official Iraq Daily.

In the report titled "Depleted uranium and Down's syndrome in offspring of
mothers younger than 35-year old," Iraqi doctor Tariq Al-Hilli said that
among the 30 sampled patients with Down's syndrome, 17 of them, or 56.6
percent, were infants of mothers under the age of 35.

The result indicated there was no significant statistical association
between advanced maternal age and birth of babies with the congenital
disorder.

It has been found that there is an increasing incidence of congenital
malformations among those children who live in areas exposed to
environmental contamination by radioactive materials like depleted uranium,
the study said.

Iraq has repeatedly condemned the United States and its Western allies for
dropping hundreds of tons of depleted uranium bombs in Iraq during the 1991
Gulf War, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, and leading
to an environmental disaster as a result.

Dr Al-Hilli said the sample was randomly selected from those patients who
went to the Saddam Central Teaching Hospital during January 1 to July 31,
2000.

The study also included another 40 age-and-sex-matched children who had no
Down's syndrome as control cases, he said.

Down's syndrome, also called trisomy 21, is caused by the presence of an
extra 21st chromosome, and the affected person has mild to moderate mental
retardation, short stature, and a flattenedfacial profile.

The disorder, formerly known as mongolism, was first described by John L.H.
Down, a British physician about 130 years ago and considered as the first
syndrome known to have a chromosomal cause.


http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=59155

*  IRAQ STOPS VISAS FOR ASIAN GROUPS
by Rasha Owais and Saifur Rahman
Gulf News, 29th July

Iraq has stopped issuing tourist visas for religious groups from Asian
countries effective July 18, according to travel sources.

The issue of tourist visas for religious groups is mainly undertaken by the
consulate as per 'an Iraqi authority-approved' list of travellers provided
to it by travel companies-who are agents for firms in Baghdad, explained
Taha Al Hadethi, Iraqi consul general in Dubai.

While he did not explain the reasons for the decision, Al Hadethi said the
consulate has neither received nor issued instructions on the move.

Summer is known in Baghdad for receiving a low influx of religious tourists
and businessmen.

"But we usually get huge numbers of visitors mainly in autumn, winter and
spring. We sometimes issue around 50 to 100 daily and two months ago we
issued around 450 visas in two days."

Ismail Johar of Johar Travels, the company which handles tourist visas for
religious groups said: "From July 18, they have stopped issuing visas. The
reasons were not stated. We were informed that this is a temporary measure
and they will begin issuing visas shortly.

"Authorities in Baghdad have stopped issuing tourist visa advice for
religious groups that often go to Karbala, Najaf, Koufa and other holy
sites. We handle these visa applications for the religious groups, and the
Iraqi Consulate issues the visa.

"However, from last month, we received instructions that each visa
application should be pre-approved from Baghdad."

Dubai-based Naif Marine Services and Al Thyraya Marine Services operate five
weekly voyages between Dubai and the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, under an
agreement with the UN.

Over 2,000 tourists, mostly Indian and Pakistanis, visit the Iraqi holy
sites.


http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020731/2002073110.html

*  IRAQ TO SUE FRENCH COMPANY OVER AIDS POLLUTED BLOOD
Arabic News, 31st July

Iraq has prepared a new list including names of victims of blood polluted by
the HIV, the AIDS causing virus, delivered by the Merieux French company to
Iraq in 1986.

The Iraqi weekly al Rafeydeen ( the two tributaries, the Tigris and the
Euphrates ) said that this list was prepared at the request of the foreign
ministry in order to be sent to France within the legal measures currently
made to sue the French company.

The weekly indicated that Iraq is still waiting results of the judiciary
case it filed against Merieux company as it was asked to compensate for two
million French Francs for each of the families of 180 persons who died
because of the polluted blood.

The paper explained that a progress was not attained in the file of the
case, although other victims in other countries were compensated including
Algeria, Germany and Tunisia, for the same reasons.

"Merieux became Aventis Pasteur after the merger of the French company
Rhone-Poulenc and the German firm Hoechst," reported The Namibian in August
of 2001 and said Iraq is "claiming US$33 million in damages for delivering
the contaminated blood, which subsequently infected 123 Iraqi haemophiliacs
with AIDS."


http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=59337

*  PRACSI GETS SEVEN IRAQI CONTRACTS WORTH $1.6M
by Saifur Rahman
Gulf News, 31st July

Dubai-based Process Automation Consultants and Systems Integrators (Pracsi),
which set up a $7 million control system in Iraq under the UN oil-for-food
programme, was awarded seven new contracts worth $1.6 million.

Officials of Pracsi, which provides control systems to the oil and gas
industry and has a $20 million turnover, said this is the single largest
technology transfer to the sanction-hit country under the programme.

These will make the three refineries in Iraq's northern Baiji more
efficient, improve the quality of production and integrate and manage the
process in a state-of-the-art computerised control system.

"We are happy to announce that we have successfully put together the process
and control system for several Iraqi oil refineries under the UN programme,
which is currently being tested and commissioned. We have also got seven new
contracts worth $1.6 million for similar work on some other projects," said
Nikolas Petrakos, managing director.

"We already have a team of six people currently deployed in Iraq to continue
the commissioning process which will take a few months."

The system was fully designed, integrated and executed locally in Dubai at
Pracsi's manufacturing facility and is one of the largest DCS systems to be
fully integrated in the Middle East.

It consisted of a control system and emergency shutdown system with Pracsi's
technology partner, Yamatake, which supplied the hardware, and associated
equipment. It was completed in 420 days.

About five years ago, Pracsi had tied up with Japan's Yamatake Corp to bring
the latest process control and system integration solutions and software for
the oil, gas and industrial applications.

It has so far completed over 40 projects for many clients in the region,
Petrakos said.

"We are very active in providing technical back-up and system integration in
the oil and gas field. Our partner, Yamatake, has a strong commitment to the
region. Together, we are offering the latest solutions to the
industry-specific application."

Pracsi recently tied up with Eco Monitoring to make a foray into East
Europe.


http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=displaynews&doc_id=NR20020801670.2
_77ec0000ccb49e51

*  IRAQ: REPORT ON CONSTRUCTION OF A DETECTION AND PREVENTION SYSTEM AGAINST
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION
Hoover's (Financial Times), 1st August

 The Iraqi news agency quoted details from a report published by the Oil
Ministry in July 2002 on the construction of a detection and prevention
system against environmental contamination caused by the petroleum plants.
The agency quoted the Director of Development the Maad Research Agency, Ali
Abd al-Hasein, who gave details on the possible ways of dealing with such
contamination which are caused to the natural and the human environments as
a byproduct of oil and gas exploring and production. The agency added that
the large oil and gas fields are close to densely inhabited areas.


http://cgi.wn.com/?action=display&article=14960894&template=baghdad/indexsea
rch.txt&index=recent

*  IRAQ GOES QUIET ON INVASION DATE
The Associated Press, 2nd August

BAGHDAD, Iraq: In a significant departure from previous years and under the
threat of U.S. military action, Iraq did little Friday to mark the 12th
anniversary of its invasion of Kuwait, an act that triggered the 1991 Gulf
War.

In years past, radio stations played patriotic songs and newspapers
published tough editorials, but this year Iraq's state-run media were free
of any reference to the Aug. 2, 1990, invasion, seven-month occupation of
Kuwait or the subsequent Gulf War that routed Iraq's military.

[.....]


BACK IN THE KURDISH AUTONOMOUS ZONE

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=59427

*  KURDS, 'AL QAIDA MEN' IN TENSE STAND-OFF
Gulf News, Reuters, 1st August

In a lush valley of northern Iraq conflict is brewing, among the sunflowers
and wheat fields Kurdish peshmerga fighters are locked in a tense stand off
with rebels said to be linked to Al Qaida.

As speculation rises that U.S. forces are gearing up to try to topple Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein, the tension in this quiet corner of Iraqi
Kurdistan underscores the instability of a region cut loose from Baghdad
rule for more than a decade.

An uneasy peace held for years between radicals and the social democrat
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) around Halabja, a small town made
infamous by a 1988 Iraqi chemical weapon attack that killed some 5,000 of
its inhabitants. 

But when Ansar Al Islam fighters ransacked the tombs of mystical Muslim Sufi
sheikhs earlier this month, the PUK said it was the last straw.

"The opportunity for dialogue has passed," PUK leader Jalal Talabani said in
a statement last week. "From the moment these outrageous crimes were
committed by the group, the policy of the PUK is to eradicate this terrorist
group once and for all."

Massoud Barzani, leader of the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party which
controls the western half of the breakaway region, has offered help to snuff
out Ansar in a sign of increasing cooperation between the once-warring
factions.

Exactly who the Ansar rebels are remains shrouded in mystery. The PUK say
Ansar is controlled by Al Qaida Arabs who fled Afghanistan after the
Taliban's defeat.

Ordinary Kurds say neighbouring Iran, officially Shi'ite and no friend of
the strictly Sunni Taliban and Al Qaida, is behind the group. PUK officials
hint Baghdad may be backing them.

Whoever Ansar may be, PUK leaders are seeking international support by
invoking the vocabulary of U.S. President George W. Bush's "war on terror"
to terminate the mysterious militants.

"Our intelligence confirms they part of the international terrorist network
Al Qaida," Barham Salah, prime minister of the PUK-held region told Reuters.
"Terrorism is an international phenomenon and requires an international
response."

PUK peshmergas are busy building mounds of earth to see above the sunflowers
across the flat valley bottom and try to spot Ansar fighters who slip down
from their commanding mountain positions to infiltrate the area at night.

But on top of their geographical disadvantage, PUK forces have another
problem which hinders their ability to attack Ansar. Two other armed
Islamist groups, officially at peace with the PUK, are in the way. 

"We don't intend to attack Ansar at the moment, because their west is
controlled by the Islamic League and the Islamic Movement and to their rear
is Iran," said local commander Jafar.

The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan says it wants no part in any conflict
between their neighbours. The much better armed and equipped PUK seized
Halabja from them late last year, leaving them a small base on a hill at the
edge of town.

Despite the peace, PUK peshmerga are loath to go too close to the base and
keep a watchful eye from down the street.

The leader of the Islamic Movement, more moderate than Ansar militants who
split from his group, does not shrink from promising worldwide retribution
against U.S. interests should Washington launch an attack on Baghdad.

Yet even his men say it is too dangerous to go anywhere near Ansar.  PUK
leaders are worried by revenge attacks from Iraqi government troops in the
event of a U.S. attack on Baghdad and are unwilling to fight on two fronts
at the same.

With that in mind, analysts say, it cannot be too long before the PUK moves
to eliminate the Islamist thorn in their side.                


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2002/08/02/MN182477
.DTL

*  NARSAI DAVID, A BAY AREA LINK TO NORTH IRAQ
by Rob Morse
San Francisco Chronicle, 2nd August

With all the talk about the difficulties of a possible U.S. invasion of
Iraq, I was surprised to learn that Narsai David has been crossing the
border into northern Iraq since 1995.

The Berkeley food and wine expert has been visiting various humanitarian
projects funded by the Assyrian Aid Society of America, of which he is
president. How does this most civilized of Bay Area foodies get past Saddam
into Iraqi Kurdistan?

It's as easy as his grandmother's miniature stuffed grape leaves, which
aren't that easy at all.

"We flew to Damascus, drove across the desert to the Syrian town of
Qamishleh and took a boat across the Tigris," David said of his visit to the
land of his Assyrian ancestors in May 2001. "On the other side we saw a huge
sign, in English, saying, 'Welcome to Iraqi Kurdistan.' "

David said it was refreshing to see how well the Muslim Kurds and the
Christian Assyrians get along. The parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan is 5
percent Assyrian, reflecting their status as a respected minority among the
Iraqi Kurds. The Kurds and Assyrians, in turn, are oppressed minorities
within Iraq, which barely tolerates the provisional state of Iraqi
Kurdistan.

According to David, the open-air markets of cities like Erbil, the oldest
city in the world, have more food and goods than those of the Iraqi markets
under Saddam's rule. Still, Saddam's sword always hangs over northern Iraq.

"The no-fly zone is keeping Saddam Hussein out," said David. "Everybody in
the north is frightened to death that if the planes stop flying because of a
rapprochement with Saddam Hussein, they're finished."

David and I sat at lunch pondering the meaning of all the Pentagon leaks of
plans to invade Iraq. The U.S. has been talking about using Iraqi Kurdistan
as a jumping-off point for the invasion. The residents of the region have
been left in the lurch by the U.S. before. After the Gulf War, our current
president's father urged the Kurds to fight Saddam, then left them to be
slaughtered, along with Assyrians and other minorities.

French scholar Gerard Chaliand calls the provisional entity of Iraqi
Kurdistan "a living paradox. . . . It is internationally protected and is
developing because the regime of Saddam Hussein, which has shown itself to
be their worst enemy, continues to endure."

Chaliand said he hoped that if a new authority emerges, the Kurds won't
again be "the designated sacrificial victims, condemned to another exodus."

The same goes for the Assyrians, victims of many a forgotten exodus and
ignored slaughter.

When the great Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations fell in the sixth
century B.C., Assyrians were left scattered across Iraq, Iran and Turkey. In
the first century A.D., they were the first nation to accept Christianity.

In the early 20th century, the Turks slaughtered Assyrians, along with
Armenians. Surviving Assyrians fled to Baghdad, suffering the loss of a
third of their remaining population along the way. In 1933, the Iraqis
massacred them.

Now, 3 million Assyrians are scattered from their homeland in northern Iraq
across the world. The biggest Assyrian population centers in the United
States are Chicago, where Narsai David was born, followed by Turlock, where
he moved when he was 11.

David and his fellow Assyrian Americans do what they can. San Jose dentist
Dr. Ashur Moradkhan donated 81,000 fruit trees to be planted in northern
Iraq.

The Assyrian Aid Society, founded after the Gulf War, has built schools,
homes and churches in northern Iraq. It has provided water, generators and
textbooks, and has paid for teachers and medical care. Its Web site is
www.assyrianaid.org.

Yes, there is a food angle. David, who for years ran Narsai's, the fabled
restaurant in Kensington, is holding a fund-raising dinner at the Ritz
Carlton in San Francisco on Nov. 15. The dinner, sponsored by the likes of
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Barbara Boxer and all the mayors named Brown,
will feature the great Egyptian-born chef Michael Mina, Israeli chef Israeli
Aharoni and Israeli-born Michael Ginor of Hudson Valley Foie Gras.

"If I could only find a way to get a Palestinian chef here," said David.

I think he'll find a way. After all, this is a guy who can get into Iraq.
And he doesn't need an F-16 to do it.




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