DATE=2/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON - IRAQ (L)
NUMBER=2-259586
BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Clinton says his administration is
seeking ways to sell goods to Iraq to benefit the
Iraqi people, without allowing Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein to rebuild his weapons of mass destruction.
Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from the White
House.
TEXT: In a brief appearance before reporters Friday,
Mr. Clinton was asked about published reports that his
administration is looking at ways to ease the
screening process for products and equipment that can
be sold to Iraq under the United Nations sanctions
program.
Without giving specifics, Mr. Clinton confirmed his
administration is assessing whether more can be done
to help the Iraqi people, while continuing to deny
Saddam Hussein the means to build weapons.
/// CLINTON ACT ///
If there is a way to further free up resources
for the overall health and development of the
people of Iraq without doing anything that will
make it easier for him to re-arm in ways that
will be damaging to his neighbors and to the
stability of the region, we ought to be open to
that, and we ought to be careful and
constructive in listening to arguments about it.
/// END ACT ///
The United States, as a member of the U-N sanctions
committee, has often blocked the sale of so-called
"dual-use" products that could be used in Iraq's
weapons programs, but that also could help ordinary
Iraqis. Chlorine, for example, can be used to purify
water, but also to make mustard gas.
There has been increasing concern among U-S allies
that restrictions on such dual-use items are
undermining efforts to ease the human suffering in
Iraq, where U-N sanctions have been imposed since 1991
after Baghdad invaded Kuwait.
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart, who denies the
United States is changing its position on sanctions,
says it is Saddam Hussein who is responsible for the
suffering of the Iraqi people, because he refuses to
comply with U-N resolutions. Those resolutions make
clear that sanctions cannot be lifted until U-N
inspectors verify that Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction have been eliminated. The Iraqi leader
expelled the last U-N inspection team in December
1998.
Last year, the United States supported a U-N Security
Council resolution that lifted the ceiling on Iraqi
oil sales to increase the revenues available for
humanitarian needs. (Signed)
NEB/DAT/WTW
25-Feb-2000 17:58 PM EDT (25-Feb-2000 2258 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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