DATE=6/9/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ - U-N (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-263311
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations Security Council has agreed
to extend the oil-for-food program to Iraq for another
six months. From Cairo, Lisa Bryant reports the last-
minute vote will also allow the UN to make a
comprehensive survey of the humanitarian situation in
Iraq.
TEXT: Besides extending the oil-for-food program, the
Security Council resolution will allow speedier
delivery of water and basic sanitation supplies into
Iraq, by no longer requiring a prior approval from the
UN's sanctions committee. Until now, those goods were
part of a list of items checked to make sure they
would not be used for military purposes.
The new resolution keeps the amount Iraq can spend to
repair its oil equipment at 600 million dollars. The
oil-for-food program, which was established in 1996,
allows Iraq to spend the money from its oil sales to
buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.
The Security Council also agreed to launch an
extensive humanitarian survey in Iraq. Critics,
including a number of UN officials, have argued that
the sanctions have imposed undue hardships on ordinary
Iraqis.
Critics also say the sanctions have increased
malnutrition in that country, and sometimes helped
cause death among children. Earlier this year, two
senior UN officials in Baghdad resigned after
criticizing the oil-for-food program.
Earlier this week, foreign ministers from Arab
countries gathered in Cairo to look for ways to end
the sanctions on Iraq. But the meeting produced no
firm agreement.
For its part, Baghdad has blasted the latest vote to
extend the oil for food program, and blamed the
sanctions for what it describes as soaring
malnutrition and medical problems among Iraqis. On
Thursday, the Reuters news agency reported Iraq's
Minister for Labor called for an end to the sanctions,
saying it was a legal and humanitarian responsibility.
Baghdad has not allowed UN weapons inspectors into the
country since late 1998. The UN says sanctions on Iraq
cannot be lifted unless inspectors have verified that
the country is free from all weapons of mass
destruction.
(SIGNED)
NEB/LB/PLM
09-Jun-2000 04:55 AM EDT (09-Jun-2000 0855 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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