DATE=8/2/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ / ALBRIGHT (L-O)
NUMBER=2-265056
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=LONDON
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Secretary of State Madeline Albright has 
marked the tenth anniversary of Iraq's invasion of 
Kuwait by saying Saddam Hussein is to blame for his 
country's misery.  Correspondent Laurie Kassman in 
London reports on the secretary's comments to a 
British daily newspaper.

TEXT:  The headline of the Financial Times commentary 
sums up Secretary of State Albright's view of Saddam 
Hussein.  It reads - enemy of his people.

Ms. Albright says Saddam Hussein has always had the 
option to comply with U-N demands that he scrap Iraq's 
weapons arsenals and cease to be a military threat to 
his neighbors.  But, she says, the Iraqi leader has 
stubbornly refused to follow this path and instead has 
chosen to defy the United Nations, rebuild his 
military, and exploit the suffering of his people.

Ms. Albright's commentary in Britain's leading 
financial daily coincides with the 10th anniversary of 
Iraq's invasion of neighboring Kuwait.  The U-S 
government led an international coalition of forces 
that eventually pushed Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in 
the 1991 Gulf War. 

Ms. Albright insists the Iraqi leader's defiance of U-
N Security Council requirements has prolonged Iraq's 
misery.  Ten-years of tough economic sanctions have 
left the country's economy in shambles and its health 
and education services at a bare minimum.  

The United States adamantly opposes lifting the U-N 
sanctions until there is ample proof Iraq has scrapped 
its weapons of mass destruction.

In contrast, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine 
marked the anniversary by calling for an end to the U-
N sanctions.  France insists it is time to ease the 
trade restrictions because of damage to Iraq's economy 
and social services.  That view has been supported by 
Russia and many Arab countries.

Mr. Vedrine told the Arab-language daily Al Hayat 
newspaper that sanctions are cruel, ineffective and 
dangerous.  He says continuing the sanctions only 
threatens the social cohesion of Iraq and stability of 
the region.

The French diplomat argues that 10-years of sanctions 
have not encouraged cooperation from the Baghdad 
leaders who remain unaffected by them.   (SIGNED)
 
NEB/LMK/GE/RAE



02-Aug-2000 07:49 AM EDT (02-Aug-2000 1149 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.