DATE=2/13/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ/U-N (L-O)
NUMBER=2-259111
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  The United Nations has confirmed the head of 
its humanitarian program in Iraq has asked to step 
down by the end of March.  Lisa Bryant reports from 
Cairo that the official, Hans von Sponeck, has been a 
frequent critic of the U-N sanctions on Baghdad. 

TEXT:  A U-N spokesman in Baghdad confirms that Mr. 
von Sponeck has asked to leave his post by March 31, 
but did not offer a reason for the requested 
departure. 

Mr. von Sponeck was unavailable for comment.  But 
diplomats told the Associated Press news agency Sunday 
that Mr. von Sponeck decided to leave the job because 
he could not continue working with the current state 
of U-N sanctions on Baghdad. 

The German humanitarian head has frequently been at 
odds with the United States and Britain over the 
sanctions and the U-N oil-for-food program.  That 
program allows Baghdad to sell more than five-billion-
dollars worth of oil every six-months in return for 
food, medicine, and other supplies. 

In an interview broadcast last week on C-N-N, Mr. von 
Sponeck said the program is failing to meet the 
minimum requirements of the Iraqi people.  He has also 
said the sanctions, imposed for Baghdad's 1990 
invasion of Kuwait, are hurting innocent Iraqis.  Mr. 
von Sponeck told C-N-N, as a U-N humanitarian official 
he could not remain silent. 

Washington criticized similar concerns aired by Mr. 
von Sponeck last year.  But his comments have earned 
praise in the Iraqi press. 

Recent press reports say both the United States and 
Britain have called for U-N Secretary Koffi Annan to 
dismiss Mr. Von Sponeck.  Mr. Annan reportedly 
resisted the requests.  But in November, he extended 
Mr. von Sponeck's term for only another six-months, 
rather than a full year. 

Mr. von Sponeck is the U-N's fifth humanitarian 
coordinator in Iraq.  In 1998, his predecessor, Denis 
Halliday, also resigned from his U-N post, expressing 
concern over the impact of the sanctions.  

Meanwhile, Baghdad has banned U-N disarmament 
inspectors from the country since December 1998, when 
the United States and Britain launched a punishing 
round of air strikes on Iraq.   (SIGNED)

NEB/LB/DW/RAE 



13-Feb-2000 12:13 PM EDT (13-Feb-2000 1713 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.