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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Battling the embargo
By Salah HemeidIf it is still too soon to confidently declare that UN sanctions against Iraq are crumbling, it is nevertheless indisputable that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime is making serious progress in its attempt to achieve that goal. Baghdad airport has been busy receiving international flights for a number of weeks now, many of them with high-level delegations on board. Dozens of businessmen, officials, scientists, artists and athletes have started to travel to Iraq for the first time since the country's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Syria and Lebanon are, meanwhile, said to be preparing to reopen an oil pipeline shut down 20 years ago, while Amman and Baghdad have reached a separate agreement this month to build a new pipeline connecting Iraqi oil fields with Jordan's refineries. On another front, long-closed borders with Saudi Arabia are being opened.
In October, Saddam's deputy Ezzat Ibrahim attended an Arab summit -- the first time Iraq had been invited to one since the end of the Gulf War. And in another unprecedented move, the final statement issued by the Islamic summit in Qatar earlier this month did not refer to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait as "aggression." A resolution on Iraq instead neutrally referred to "the situation between Iraq and Kuwait.''
Last week, Baghdad questioned the use of a UN-approved agreement allowing it to sell oil to pay for food and humanitarian goods, and indicated that it was seeking more control over its oil resources. There was the subtle warning that Iraq may decide to stop the flow of oil to the international market, and thus drive up prices. Iraq also demanded -- and is getting -- payment for its oil sales in Euros rather than US dollars.
All this has added weight to calls from many countries to ease or lift the devastating economic sanctions on humanitarian grounds. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has offered Iraq a plan for breaking a two-year impasse on returning UN weapons inspectors to Iraq. In Doha, Annan met with Saddam's deputy and later the Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Said Al-Sahaf who said both sides had agreed to hold "a comprehensive dialogue" on ways to end the sanctions. He added that Annan and Iraq would present suggestions on what the talks would cover and then agree on the time and venue.
France and Russia, the two UN Security Council members most sympathetic to Iraq, have also been pushing for a softening of the embargo. There are reports that Moscow may soon embark on a diplomatic initiative to amend resolution 1284 that requires Iraq's full cooperation with a new weapons inspection team if the Council is to consider easing the sanctions. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who made an unprecedented visit to Baghdad last week, is believed to have got Hussein's acceptance to resume cooperation with the inspectors in return for "an annex'' to Resolution 1284 that would allow an immediate suspension of the embargo. Press reports in the Gulf suggested Sunday that Ivanov also asked Kuwait to show some signs of flexibility towards Iraq, including a refusal to allow US and British warplanes imposing a no-fly zone over southern Iraq to use Kuwaiti airspace.
Kuwait, instead, said it wanted Russia to convince Iraq to comply with all Security Council resolutions, especially that which calls for answers to what happened to more than 600 Kuwaitis and nationals of other countries who have been missing since the Gulf crisis. The official Kuwaiti News Agency said Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah had discussed the issue with Ivanov during his visit to the Gulf emirate.
Iraq has yet to give any clear signals about its next move, but some observers have expressed hope that both Annan's efforts and the Russian initiative might produce a sign that Baghdad wants to resolve the issues quickly. The Russian news agency, Itar Tass, reported Saturday that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Aziz is travelling to Moscow to discuss the Russian proposals with Kremlin leaders. Aziz is also planning a visit to Beijing for similar purposes.
Many analysts believe that Iraq, encouraged by increasing regional and international support, is trying to thumb its nose at the US while the latter wrestles with the aftermath of its unexpectedly complex presidential election. The Clinton administration has rejected the argument that UN sanctions against Iraq are eroding, and has dispatched Defence Secretary William Cohen to the region to underline US determination in maintaining its containment policy against Saddam.
Related stories:
Flight no.1 to Baghdad 19 - 25 October 2000
Exigency's last word 9 -15 November 2000
Little steps, big goal 5 - 11 October 2000
Death siege defied 28 Sep. - 4 Oct. 2000
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