DATE=2/2/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=PENTAGON / IRAQ (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-272124

BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The U-S military is providing specialized non-lethal training to members of the Iraqi opposition. V-O-A Correspondent Alex Belida reports from the Pentagon.

TEXT: A Pentagon spokesman says 90 Iraqi opposition members have undergone non-lethal training since October 1998, when the Iraqi Liberation Act was passed by Congress. The spokesman says five Iraqis are currently in training programs and 18 more are scheduled to enter courses in the near future.

The courses have been in such areas as emergency medicine, public affairs, civil-military relations, supply management, and computers.

The spokesman says the cost of the training for the Iraqis thus far has amounted to about 400-thousand dollars. He says those who have taken courses were selected for training by Iraqi opposition leaders.

A senior Defense Department official told Congress last September that the Pentagon's program is aimed at improving the opposition's effectiveness as a political force.

Word of the Pentagon's assistance coincides with an announcement that the United States has authorized the use of four-million dollars for opposition activities inside Iraq.

The money is to be used to gather information to help build a case against the government of Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity. (Signed)

NEB/BEL/JWH