DATE=8/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ / U-S CONGRESS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253258
BYLINE=RICHARD ENGEL
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Five U-S congressional staff members have
begun a visit to Iraq. Richard Engel reports from our
Middle-East bureau in Cairo that it is the first such
visit since the Gulf War.
TEXT: The organizer of the U-S delegation's visit to
Iraq, Phyllis Bennis, told reporters the congressional
aides are hoping to get first-hand knowledge of the
humanitarian situation in Iraq.
Ms. Bennis, who works for the Washington-based
"Institute for Policy Studies", described the visit as
the beginning of a process for the U-S Congress to
take an independent look at what is happening in Iraq.
The U-S congressional aides are reportedly meeting
with U-N humanitarian personnel in Iraq and are
planning to visit several unspecified sites outside
Baghdad.
But the U-S congressional staffers have so far refused
to talk directly with journalists due to the sensitive
nature of the trip.
// UNVOICED OPT // Four of the congressional staff
members work for Democrats, one works for a
congressman with no party affiliation. // END OPT //
A U-S travel ban makes visits to Iraq difficult. The
State Department had also discouraged the
congressional staff members from visiting Iraq, citing
security concerns. U-S embassy officials in Jordan
also distanced themselves from the trip, saying they
had no information about it.
Analysts say the visit by the congressional aides
shows some members of the U-S Congress are beginning
to question United States policy towards Iraq since
the end of the Gulf War in 1991. (SIGNED)
NEB/RHE/GE/RAE
30-Aug-1999 09:52 AM LOC (30-Aug-1999 1352 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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