DATE=4/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGRESSMAN HALL / IRAQ (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261565
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A U-S congressman says the United Nations
should treat Iraq's humanitarian needs separate from
the country's disarmament obligations. Lisa Bryant
reports U-S Representative Tony Hall made the comment
at the end of a visit to Iraq to assess the
humanitarian impact of almost a decade of U-N
sanctions.
TEXT: During his four-day visit to Iraq, Congressman
Hall visited schools and health care centers, and met
with Iraqi and United Nations officials to get a
better idea of the impact of the U-N sanctions on
ordinary Iraqis.
During a news conference before leaving Baghdad
(Thursday), Mr. Hall said he agrees with reports that
some Iraqis are suffering under the U-N's oil-for-food
program. He said there are what he called "some
hurting people" in Iraq -- especially children who are
malnourished and who need food and medicines.
But Mr. Hall also says international efforts to remove
all Iraqi weapons of mass destruction must continue.
He will report his findings to Congress.
The congressman is among the few U-S lawmakers to
visit Iraq since the Gulf War almost a decade ago.
But he is not the first foreign official to voice
concern about the humanitarian impact of the U-N's
oil-for-food program.
The program allows Iraq to sell oil in exchange for
food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies. But
critics argue the sanctions have imposed unfair
hardships on ordinary Iraqis and, in some cases, may
have caused malnutrition and even death.
Already this year, two senior U-N humanitarian
officials have resigned from their posts after
criticizing the sanctions. A group of 70 American
lawmakers wrote a letter to President Clinton calling
for lifting the sanctions. More recently, the U-N
Security Council has agreed to look at better ways to
implement them.
But the United Nations has also vowed to keep
sanctions in place until its inspectors agree that
Iraq is free from weapons of mass destruction. Iraq
has rejected a new weapons inspection plan and has
not allowed U-N arms monitors into the country since
December of 1998. (Signed)
NEB/LB/JWH/ENE/JO
20-Apr-2000 12:58 PM EDT (20-Apr-2000 1658 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
