Various Developments
Iraq News MAY 20, 1998
By Laurie MylroieThe central focus of Iraq News is the tension between the considerable, proscribed WMD capabilities that Iraq is holding on to and its increasing stridency that it has complied with UNSCR 687 and it is time to lift sanctions. If you wish to receive Iraq News by email, a service which includes full-text of news reports not archived here, send your request to Laurie Mylroie .
I. CABINET REJECTS UNSC STATEMENT, REITERATES MAY 1 LETTER, INA, MAY 17
II. NAT'L ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: IRAQ WILL TAKE ACTION, INA MAY 18
III.NAT'L ASSEMBLY MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF USURPATION, IRAQ TV, MAY 16
IV. AZIZ VISIT TO PARIS "IMPORTANT BREAKTHROUGH," LIBERATION, MAY 13
V. IRAQ WANTS TO BUY TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQPT UNDER 986, REUTERS, MAY 19
The full text of the May 17 Iraqi cabinet statement, which
constituted Iraq's reply to the UNSC's statement on its nuclear program
and which reiterated Iraq's May 1 "open letter" to the UNSC, was
reported by INA. In contrast to the belligerency of the May 1 letter,
the cabinet statement said simply, "The Council of Ministers took
cognizance of the statement issued by the president of the UN Security
Council on 14 May 1998 on the plan to move the activity of the
International Atomic Energy Agency in Iraq to the stage of permanent
monitoring in July [ED: there is no such commitment; the issue is only
to be considered in July.] The Council of Ministers has found that this
statement does not meet the minimum level of Iraq's rights following the
immense sacrifices it has made. Iraq is still waiting in accordance
with the concepts included in the open letter it addressed to the UNSC
on 1 May 1998." The statement then detailed the rest of the Cabinet's
rather ordinary agenda that day.
On May 18, INA, summarizing an interview the speaker of Iraq's Nat'l
Assembly had given to an Egyptian paper, reported that he had said that
"Iraq is considering all the possible measures and steps to confront the
perpetuation of the unjust embargo and Iraq will not let the issue go by
without taking any action."
On May 16, Iraq's National Assembly issued a statement on "the 50th
anniversary of the usurpation of Palestine." It said, "All the Arabs
should turn 15 May into a starting point to escalate their struggle,
upgrade the official and popular Arab stands to the level of fateful
struggle against the Zionist entity . . . and reject the Zionist-US
hegemony and the so-called new world order, which fragmented the world
and imposed blockades on the Arab nation's countries in Iraq, Libya, and
Sudan, as part of the plan in support of the Zionist entity . . . "
On the diplomatic front, Tariq Aziz visited Paris, May 10 to 17. As
the French paper, Liberation, May 13 explained, "It is by the scale of
Tariq Aziz' visit to Paris that the diplomatic benefits which Baghdad
has derived from the last Gulf crisis are to be measured. . . . As the
highlight of the visit, he will meet Thursday morning with Jacques
Chirac. . . The fact that the Iraqi deputy prime minister is meeting
with the French president for the first time gives his visit particular
significance. Chirac certainly received Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad
al-Sahhaf during the last crisis, but that was in an emergency. . . .
Diplomatic relations, severed at Iraq's initiative during the Gulf
crisis, have constantly improved over the past few years. If we take
into account just the French interests section in Baghdad, set up in
1995, this now looks like an embassy, which lacks only an ambassador."
Aziz left Paris for Rome May 17, where he met Pope John Paul and
top Roman Cahtolic officials and "found a sympathetic ear," according to
Reuters. Meanwhile, Iraq's Foreign Minister visited Gambia and Kenya,
both on the UNSC, as well as Tunisia.
Regarding UNSCR 986, up for renewal in early June, a US effort to
have it extended for 18 months, rather than six, was rebuffed, while
Iraq rejected a UN suggestion that it use the much increased revenues it
will receive under the new plan to raise the calorie content of food
rations, as Reuters reported. Instead, among the things Iraq wants to
buy are telecommunications equipment and spare parts for its oil
industry.
I. CABINET REJECTS UNSC STATEMENT
Baghdad, INA in Arabic 1647 GMT 17 May 98
[FBIS Translated Text] Baghdad, 17 May (INA)~-The Council of Ministers
took cognizance of the statement issued by the president of. the UN
Security Council (UNSC) on 14 May 1998 on the plan to move the activity
of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] in Iraq to the stage of
permanent monitoring in July.
The Council of Ministers has found out that this statement does not
meet the minimum level of Iraq's rights following the immense sacrifices
it has made. Iraq is still waiting in accordance with the concepts
included in the open letter it addressed to the UNSC on 1 May 1998
During its 15th session, chaired by President Saddam Husayn, the
council discussed several issues, including the issue of securing
drinking water to citizens in some governorates.
The president said: When we talk about our people's health, our talk
should not be linked to economic factors Even in the economic aspect,
we should start with the people's health, beginning with water, not
medicine. This is because fresh drinking water and health awareness can
reduce disease.
His excellency instructed the council's industrial committee to
discuss the building of drinking water complexes today and to submit the
results of its discussion to the Council.
INA has learned that the industrial committee met today and submitted
its recommendations on this issue to the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers also discussed the issue of handling
revenues generated from votive offerings at holy shrines. It approved
doubling the share of workers at holy shrines, the share allocated for
maintaining the shrine, and the share of the poor.
The Council of Ministers reviewed the assessment of a state
enterprise, which is affiliated with one of the ministries and which
committed legal and administrative violations, something which reflected
on the administrative and financial situation of this enterprise. The
Council of Ministers discussed two options: dissolving the enterprise
in accordance with the principle of dissolving failing enterprises, or
giving it a chance in accordance with specific conditions. The council
adopted the second alternative.
The Council of Ministers studied a report by the Industry and
Minerals Ministry on the state of the sugar industry in Iraq. The
council discussed the report and the idea of adopting a pricing policy
with the producers of sugar beet and cane with the aim of encouraging
the production of these two products to reflect positively on sugar
production in Iraq. The council decided to update and complete the
report which seeks to expand the production of sugar in Iraq, as well as
to present the report again to the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers reviewed the issue of assigning university
professors to government departments during the summer vacation to
maintain interaction between know1edge and application, universities and
government departments. The council decided to distribute teachers to
the government departments which are in harmony with their specialties
during the summer vacation.
The Council of Ministers followed up the harvest campaign of
strategic products, developing poultry production, and facilitating the
marketing of these products. It also followed up the production
programs for table eggs and gave the necessary instructions to the
competent ministers.
II. NAT'L ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: IRAQ WILL TAKE ACTION
FBIS-NES-98-138
Baghdad INA in Arabic 0712 GMT 18 May 98
Cairo, 18 May, (INA)--Speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly [INA]
Sa'dun Hammadi said that President Saddam Husayn's last letter to the
Security Council is straightforward and speaks the truth for all states.
In a statement to the Egyptian paper al-Siyasi al-Masri, Hammadi said
that Iraq is considering all the possible measures and steps to confront
the perpetuation of the unjust embargo and Iraq will not let the issue
go by without taking any action.
He added that Iraq is very much willing to hold immediate dialogue
with any party, including the United States, pointing out that it is the
latter that refuses to hold such a dialogue. Hammadi affirmed the INA's
willingness to hold dialogue with the Kuwaiti Parliament with a view to
clearing the air between the two states.
Hammadi said Iraq's ties with the Arabian Gulf states are good and
that relations with Iran are improving a great deal, in spite of the
fact that some issues still need to be resolved, such as the issue of
Iraqi prisoners of war in Iran.
Sa'dun Hammadi spoke about the abnormal situation in the self- rule
area of Kurdistan, which was an upshot of the US and UK interventions.
He said: It is the United States, and not the Kurds, that is placing
obstacles in the path of finding solutions to the Kurdish affair.
Hammadi was referring to US attempts to abort any previous agreement
reached between the government and the Kurdish parties.
Hammadi said that relations with Egypt were advancing and that
positive progress was being made. He urged the Arab states to set up an
Arab economic bloc and a common Arab market.
The INA speaker criticized the Turkish Government's attitude toward
Iraq and the rest of the Arab world. He said that Turkey's negative
policy harms the Turkish as well as Arab interests. Speaking about
relations with Syria, Hammadi said that the INA is willing to exchange
visits by parliamentary delegations with Syria to help enhance bilateral
relations.
[Description of source: Official news agency of the Iraqi Government]
III. NAT'L ASSEMBLY MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF USURPATION
Baghdad Iraq Television Network in Arabic 1700 GMT 16 May 98
[Announcer-read report over video]
[FBIS Translated Text] The Iraqi people's representatives have called
on the Arab parliamentarians to confront the Zionist-US scheme, which
threatens the Arabs, their present and future, and seeks to Judaize holy
Jerusalem.
In a statement today during the evening session the National Assembly
held under Assemb1y speaker Dr. Sa'dun Hammadi on the 50th anniversary
of the usurpation of Pa1estine, they said: All the Arabs should turn 15
May into a starting point to escalate their struggle, upgrade the
official and popular Arab stands to the level of fateful struggle
against the Zionist entity, close ranks, achieve solidarity, and reject
the Zionist-US hegemony and the so-called new world order, which
fragmented the world and imposed blockades on the Arab nation's
countries in Iraq, Libya, and Sudan, as part of the plan in support of
the Zionist entity.
The statement noted that the massacres perpetrated by the Zionist
Occupation gangs throughout 50 years through US and British support are
aimed at Judaizing Jerusalem and usurping the Palestinian national and
pan~Arab rights. The statement added that these massacres have
continued on Jabal Abu Ghunaym and elsewhere in defiance of the whole
world.
The statement said: The burning of al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969, the
massacre at the Ibrahimi Mosque, the killing of Palestinian workers in
'Uyun Qarah [Eishon LeZiyyon], the killing of worshipers at the al-Aqsa
Mosque, and the building of settlements constitute a defiance and
rejection of the international resolutions. This shows that the United
States and Britain seek to entrench the Zionist entity in the heart of
the Arab world so as to act as a base for the US-Zionist ambitions in
the region, to fragment the Arab nation, and to strike at its base of
liberation, which is represented by great Iraq.
The assembly also discussed a number of the National Assembly
delegations' reports on their recent visits to a number of Arab states.
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