DATE=11/21/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ/SANCTIONS (L)
NUMBER=2-256412
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Iraqi leaders are rejecting a draft resolution
before the U-N Security Council aimed at ending
international sanctions in exchange for a resumption
of weapons inspections. The Security Council has been
split over the draft resolution, and as a result has
extended the Iraqi oil-for-food program for two-weeks.
Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Middle East
Bureau in Cairo.
TEXT: The Iraqi News Agency says a Cabinet meeting
chaired (Sunday) by President Saddam Hussein issued a
categorical rejection of the draft U-N resolution,
even with the modifications under discussion.
A statement by the Cabinet said the draft aims neither
to suspend international sanctions against Iraq nor to
lift them in the future. As a result, it called for
Security Council members to reject the draft and stick
to what it called -- a just position toward Iraq.
Security Council members have been trying to agree on
a resolution aimed at easing economic sanctions
against Iraq in exchange for a return of U-N weapons
monitors. The monitors left one-year ago, complaining
of a lack of cooperation by Iraqi authorities.
Their withdrawal led to five nights of bombing raids
by U-S and British warplanes.
The Iraqi government says it has complied with U-N
demands and has dismantled its weapons of mass
destruction. As a result, it says, all sanctions
should be lifted.
The sanctions issue has divided the U-N Security
Council, which is under pressure from many governments
in the Middle East to end them. The Russian
government reportedly is seeking a gradual phase-out
of the sanctions on one hand, while the U-S government
wants them lifted only after a resumption of the
weapons inspections program.
Despite the Iraqi government's rejection of the latest
U-N proposals, diplomatic sources in the region report
Iraqi oil exports are continuing normally.
Iraq has been allowed to export five-billion-dollars'
worth of oil every six-months and use some of the
funds to import food, medicine and other humanitarian
goods.
Iraqi officials complain that many humanitarian
supplies are withheld or delayed because they must be
approved by a special U-N committee. The U-S and
British governments accuse the Iraqi government of
diverting some of the funds to non-essential projects.
Some U-N officials have called for humanitarian
programs to be detached from the weapons monitoring
program, leading to a rift within the world body and a
continuing stalemate over Iraqi policy. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/ALW/RAE
21-Nov-1999 11:20 AM EDT (21-Nov-1999 1620 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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