DATE=4/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGRESSMAN HALL / IRAQ (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261565
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  A U-S congressman says the United Nations 
should treat Iraq's humanitarian needs separate from 
the country's disarmament obligations.  Lisa Bryant 
reports U-S Representative Tony Hall made the comment 
at the end of a visit to Iraq to assess the 
humanitarian impact of almost a decade of U-N 
sanctions. 

TEXT:  During his four-day visit to Iraq, Congressman 
Hall visited schools and health care centers, and met 
with Iraqi and United Nations officials to get a 
better idea of the impact of the U-N sanctions on 
ordinary Iraqis. 

During a news conference before leaving Baghdad  
(Thursday), Mr. Hall said he agrees with reports that 
some Iraqis are suffering under the U-N's oil-for-food 
program.  He said there are what he called "some 
hurting people" in Iraq -- especially children who are 
malnourished and who need food and medicines. 

But Mr. Hall also says international efforts to remove 
all Iraqi weapons of mass destruction must continue.  
He will report his findings to Congress. 

The congressman is among the few U-S lawmakers to 
visit Iraq since the Gulf War almost a decade ago.  
But he is not the first foreign official to voice 
concern about the humanitarian impact of the U-N's 
oil-for-food program. 

The program allows Iraq to sell oil in exchange for 
food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies.  But 
critics argue the sanctions have imposed unfair 
hardships on ordinary Iraqis and, in some cases, may 
have caused malnutrition and even death. 

Already this year, two senior U-N humanitarian 
officials have resigned from their posts after 
criticizing the sanctions.  A group of 70 American 
lawmakers wrote a letter to President Clinton calling 
for lifting the sanctions.  More recently, the U-N 
Security Council has agreed to look at better ways to 
implement them. 

But the United Nations has also vowed to keep 
sanctions in place until its inspectors agree that 
Iraq is free from weapons of mass destruction.  Iraq 
has rejected a new weapons inspection plan and has  
not  allowed U-N arms monitors into the country since 
December of 1998.  (Signed)

NEB/LB/JWH/ENE/JO



20-Apr-2000 12:58 PM EDT (20-Apr-2000 1658 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.