DATE=3/1/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ-HUMANITARIAN RELIEF (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259743
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO:  The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in 
Iraq, who is resigning his post to protest the effect 
of sanctions on the Iraqi people, spoke to reporters 
Wednesday and painted a bleak picture of daily life in 
that country.  V-O-A Correspondent Breck Ardery was at 
the meeting with the U-N official, Hans von Sponeck 
[pron: `SPAHN-eck] and has this report.

TEXT:  Mr. von Sponeck says the so-called "oil-for-
food" program is simply inadequate to provide even a 
minimal standard of living for the average Iraqi.  He 
says the program, in which Iraq is allowed to sell oil 
to raise money for humanitarian supplies, works out to 
just 252 U-S dollars a year for each Iraqi citizen.

He told reporters that every measure of human well-
being, including infant mortality, school enrollment, 
homelessness and physical and mental illness, has 
deteriorated in the nine years since U-N sanctions 
were imposed on Iraq.

Mr. von Sponeck, who recently resigned, effective the 
end of this month, is especially alarmed about the 
poor state of education in Iraq.

               /// VON SPONECK ACT ///

      Iraqi youth, in my opinion, is increasingly ill-
      prepared to accept their responsibilities in 
      nation-building, and I think the implications of 
      that you understand.

                   /// END ACT ///

Mr. von Sponeck says he must choose his words 
carefully, as he is still a U-N official until the end 
of March.  However, it was evident by what he told 
reporters that he believes the comprehensive sanctions 
against Iraq have been a humanitarian disaster.

At no time did Mr. von Sponeck criticize the 
government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.  
However, he did concede that problems affecting Iraq 
are both "external" and "internal."

The United States ambassador to the United Nations, 
Richard Holbrooke, believes the Iraqi government is 
the central reason that the Iraqi people are 
suffering.

              /// HOLBROOKE ACT ///

      The present oil-for-food program and other 
      arrangements leave plenty of room for resources 
      to reach the people of Iraq.  But they are 
      denied that opportunity by the Iraqi government.  
      It is crystal clear.

                   /// END ACT ///

The U-S State Department says the Iraqi government has 
spent almost two-billion dollars on palace 
construction since the end of the Gulf War, and that 
top Iraqi officials are spending thousands of dollars 
a week on imported whiskey and other luxury goods.   
(Signed)

NEB/UN/BA/LSF/WTW



01-Mar-2000 17:38 PM EDT (01-Mar-2000 2238 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.