DATE=01/14/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / U-S PLANES (L)

NUMBER=2-271361

BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB

DATELINE=CAIRO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Two flights carrying U-S activists opposed to international sanctions against Iraq have arrived in Baghdad. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Middle East Bureau in Cairo that organizers say these are the first such U-S flights since the Gulf War 10-years ago.

TEXT: Organizers told reporters upon arriving in Baghdad that the purpose of the flights was to demonstrate their opposition to the sanctions against Iraq and to show that some Americans are sorry for the damage caused by air attacks from U-S and British air patrols.

Organizers say they did not seek permission for the flights, which originated from Jordan. But officials with Jordanian Airlines, which operated the charters, told reporters in Amman that prior notice was given to the special U-N committee that monitors the Iraqi sanctions program.

One flight carried former U-S Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, who is an outspoken opponent of the sanctions and has made several trips to Iraq.

Mr. Clark called the sanctions a crime against humanity and said he hopes the world will refuse to participate in what he called - the criminal conspiracy.

One of the organizers of the other flight, James Jennings of the U-S relief group Conscience International, said thousands of Americans are concerned about the effect of sanctions on the Iraqi people. His flight carried 150-thousand dollars' worth of medical supplies for Iraqi children, as well as medical volunteers for Iraqi hospitals.

/// JENNINGS ACT ///

Our goal is to show that we want to help, and this Baghdad airlift is an effort to get two things: it is about the Iraqi children and it is about the American conscience.

/// END ACT ///

The Iraqi government says more than one-million Iraqis have died because of the sanctions during the past 10-years. It expressed satisfaction with growing opposition to the sanctions among Arab, Asian, and some European governments.

The U-S and British governments, which support the sanctions, say the Iraqi government has a good supply of medicine, but refuses to distribute all of it in order to increase international opposition to the sanctions.

/// REST OPT ///

The U-S sponsored flights to Baghdad come on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Gulf War, which followed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the imposition of an international embargo on most commercial trade with Iraq.

The United Nations says in the past 10-years per-capita income in Iraq has fallen to one-fifth of its level before the invasion, and infant mortality rates have doubled.

In the past four-months, dozens of charter flights carrying humanitarian supplies have flown to Baghdad's recently reopened international airport to show opposition to the sanctions.

Iraq has reportedly agreed to send a delegation to the United Nations this month to resume negotiations on lifting the sanctions after a two-year suspension. (SIGNED)

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