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)
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Source: Voice of America
.