RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT
Vol. 4, No. 5, 2 February 2001
A Review of Developments in Iraq Prepared by the Regional
Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
HEADLINES:
BAGHDAD HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS, DEFECTOR SAYS
BAGHDAD'S TIES WITH EGYPT GROW...
...AS CAIRO HELPS RECONCILE SAUDIS WITH IRAQ
SYRIANS DISCUSS COOPERATION WITH BAGHDAD...
BUT DAMASCUS SAYS IT WILL DEFEND KUWAIT
IRAQ OFFICIALS ON FREE TRADE ACCORDS
RUSSIAN ENERGY MINISTER IN BAGHDAD
IRAQ-TURKEY BUSINESS COUNCIL FOUNDED
ARE IRAQ'S WATER PROBLEMS EBBING?
EGYPTIAN COPTIC POPE TO VISIT IRAQ
TARIQ 'AZIZ SAYS USSR'S COLLAPSE HURT ARABS
KIRKUK ETHNIC CLEANSING DETAILED
BAGHDAD SAYS KURDISTAN 'TEEMING WITH SPIES'
PUK'S TALABANI INVITED TO LONDON
BAGHDAD HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS, DEFECTOR SAYS. A recent Iraqi
defector who had served in the Iraqi military engineering
troops, told London's "Daily Telegraph" on 28 January that
Saddam Husseyn has two operational nuclear weapons and is
rapidly working on building more.
He said that there are some 64 factories and
institutions at work on the bombs, some of them in Hemrin in
northeastern Iraq near the Iranian border. That area, he
reports, is restricted and remains under the control of the
Military Industry Ministry, which is responsible for
developing weapons systems.
According to the defector, the program is directed by
Abed Hmoud, who runs Saddam's personal office. Others
involved in the project, he said, include General Raad
Ismail, who runs the Committee for the Use of Nuclear
Weapons, and a certain Dr. Khalid, who directs the Al-Athir
factory where the weapons are assembled.
A spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency
said that that body "will want to investigate [this report]
as soon as possible." Meanwhile, however, Iraq's Ambassador
to Russia Muzkir al-Duri denied that Baghdad had any such
weapons, describing reports to the contrary as "fabrications
and a specially mounted campaign" by portions of the Western
media, Russia's Interfax agency reported on 31 January.
(David Nissman)
BAGHDAD'S TIES WITH EGYPT GROWŠ Egypt is already Iraq's
leading trade partner within the framework of the UN oil-for-
food agreement, Egyptian Minister of Economy Yusuf Butrus
Ghali said recently. He noted that Egypt's exports to Iraq in
2000 reached $1 billion and is expected to double in the near
future due to the free-trade-zone agreement signed between
Egypt and Iraq last week. And now Cairo's "Al-Ahram Al-
'Arabi" of 27 January reports Egyptians have been persuaded
to push for the linkage of sanctions and that President Husni
Mubarak will raise the issue when he goes to Washington this
spring
Meanwhile, MENA reported on 27 January, Egyptian Foreign
Minister Amr Musa, speaking in Davos, Switzerland, already
said that the situation in Iraq should be reevaluated,
arguing that the sanctions and the suffering of the Iraqi
people cannot last forever and pointing out that Arab and
international public opinion have called for lifting the
sanctions regime.
But Cairo's "Al-Jumhuriyah" on 28 January provided a
qualifying note by suggesting that Mubarak may not be as
interested in advancing Iraq's interests as in solidifying
his standing in the Arab world and acting as its spokesman in
dealing with Washington on various issues. (David Nissman)
ŠAS CAIRO HELPS RECONCILE SAUDIS WITH IRAQ. Dawn.com reported
on 29 January that Egyptian President Husni Mubarak used his
recent visit to Riyadh to relay an Iraqi offer of
reconciliation with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Saudis have
not denied the report, London's "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" notes,
adding that the reconciliation offer was first made by Iraqi
Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan during his visit to Cairo.
At that time, Ramadan asked the Egyptian government to play
this role. (David Nissman)
SYRIANS DISCUSS COOPERATION WITH BAGHDADŠ Syrian irrigation
and housing ministers held talks in Baghdad on boosting
bilateral cooperation on 27 January, according to "Iran News"
of 28 January. Both Syria and Iraq are angry at Turkey for
what they say is Ankara's monopolization of waters in the
Tigris and Euphrates basins. The next day, Iraqi Vice
President Taha Yasin Ramadan arrived in Damascus to discuss
broader bilateral issues including the signing of a free
trade agreement. Despite this warming trend, no Syrian
political official has yet visited Iraq. (David Nissman)
ŠBUT DAMASCUS SAYS IT WILL DEFEND KUWAIT. Syrian Foreign
Minister Faruq Al-Shar'a told a Kuwaiti National Assembly
delegation that Syria will defend Kuwait if its security is
ever threatened, Damascus Radio reported on 30 January. He
added that there was no reason to think that Syria's position
would change. As far as the Iraqi threat is concerned,
Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khalid Sulayman Al-
Jarallah said in Riyadh that the Arab states must work
together to form a united front against Saddam Husseyn. As to
a reported offer of reconciliation, Al-Jarallah said that he
had "never heard of anything like this." (David Nissman)
IRAQ OFFICIALS ON FREE TRADE ACCORDS Salim Qubaysi, head of
Iraq's parliamentary commission, said this month that free
trade agreements between Baghdad and Syria and Egypt "will
transform the Iraqi, Syrian, and Egyptian markets into a
single one [and represent] the start of the erosion of the
embargo," AFP reported on 30 January. Sa'd Qasim Hammudi of
the ruling Ba'th Party echoed that view, noting that "they
are outside the oil-for-food program and thus contribute to
the erosion of the sanctions regime." And 'Abdul 'Aziz
Shawish, head of the parliamentary commission for financial
affairs, said that Iraq will soon sign trade accords with
other countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, and the United Arab
Emirates. On 29 January Jordanian Prime Minister 'Ali Abu
Raghab confirmed that his country would be holding talks with
Iraq to set up a free trade zone. (David Nissman)
RUSSIAN ENERGY MINISTER IN BAGHDAD. Russian Minister of
Energy Aleksandr Gavrin arrived in Baghdad on 29 January to
discuss issues related to oil cooperation. He was accompanied
by executives from LUKoil, Zarubezhneft, and Mashinoimport,
Russian and Western agencies reported. At the top of the
agenda is Russian interest in developing the West Qurna oil
field, about which LUKoil earlier signed a $3.5 billion
contract. That field is estimated to contain some eight
billion barrels of crude. Iraq currently owes Moscow $8
billion for past military goods and has said it wants to
repay in trade. (David Nissman)
IRAQ-TURKEY BUSINESS COUNCIL FOUNDED. The Turkish side of the
Turkey-Iraq Business Council was established on 25 January
under the structure of the Foreign Economic Relations Board
(DEIK). At the general assembly meeting, Yavuz Zentinoglu,
chairman of the executive board of the DEIK, pointed out that
prior to the Gulf War, Iraq was Turkey's second most
important trading partner, "Anadolu Ajansi" reported on 25
January. Zeytinoglu suggested that the business council "will
play an important role in accelerating economic and
commercial relations between the two countries." In a related
development, Turkish products will be displayed at the Third
Turkish Export Products Fair in Baghdad in May. (David
Nissman)
ARE IRAQ'S WATER PROBLEMS EBBING? Iraqi Irrigation Minister
Mahmud Dhiyab Al-Ahmad told Baghdad's "Alif Ba" on 30 January
that heavy rains had increased water levels in Iraq's lakes
and thus reduced water shortages brought on by what he
described as the worst drought in 200 years. In a speech to
the National Assembly Al-Ahmad said that his ministry was
actively combating the spread of Shambalan weeds which are
clogging waterways and sucking up water. Meanwhile, the
"Kurdish Observer" of 30 January reported that heavy snows in
Iraqi Kurdistan have brought daily life to a standstill but
that ultimately these snows will ease water shortages there
as well. (David Nissman)
EGYPTIAN COPTIC POPE TO VISIT IRAQ. The leader of the Coptic
Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, has responded positively
to an invitation extended to him by the Iraqi government to
visit Baghdad, MENA reported on 28 January. Coptic church
leaders have frequently expressed their solidarity with the
Iraqi people and its sufferings. (David Nissman)
TARIQ 'AZIZ SAYS USSR'S COLLAPSE HURT ARABS. Iraqi Deputy
Prime Minister Tariq 'Aziz told the Arab Poetry Festival,
organized by the General Federation of Arab Intellectuals and
Writers in Baghdad, that "the Arab nation has faced major
cultural, political, economic and security threats in the
wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting
attempt by the U.S. to impose its hegemony on the world,"
Baghdad Radio reported on 29 January. He called on other Arab
states and friendly countries to support Iraq, he praised
Russian positions on international questions, and he attacked
Turkey for providing airbases to U.S. and British planes
which have attacked Iraq. (David Nissman)
KIRKUK ETHNIC CLEANSING DETAILED. An Iraq Foundation report
released on 26 January describes in detail Baghdad's ethnic
cleansing of Kurdish and Turkmen families from Kirkuk, a
process that has left more than 100,000 people homeless and
destitute. It notes that "typically, Kurdish and Turkmen
families are singled out in official records, ordered
deported, and stripped of their property, possessions, ID
cards, and ration cards. Some are deported to areas in
Kurdistan under Kurdish control; others are deported to Iraq
under government control, to face a dangerous future." (David
Nissman)
BAGHDAD SAYS KURDISTAN "TEEMING WITH SPIES." Baghdad's "Al-
'Iraq" of 27 January claims that "hundreds of spies working
for different foreign parties" are operating freely in Iraqi
Kurdistan and are even meeting openly with leaders. Among
those singled out for mention are PUK leader Jalal Talabani
and his meetings with an Italian Solidarity Organization that
the paper says is known to be "linked to foreign intelligence
services." And the paper criticizes a meeting between Kurds
and an Iranian delegation in Bandar-I Khan. The paper says
that the Iranians involved were intelligence officers as
well. (David Nissman)
PUK'S TALABANI INVITED TO LONDON. Jalal Talabani, leader of
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan-controlled area of Iraqi
Kurdistan, has been invited by the British Foreign Ministry
to London for consultations, the "Kurdish Observer" reported
on 30 January. The British have urged him to continue his
meetings with Mas'ud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP)-controlled part of Iraqi Kurdistan and
to fulfill the provisions of the Washington Agreement. The
"Kurdish Observer" also mentions that Barham Salih, the new
PUK prime minister, has suggested that the KDP and PUK
international relations bureaus be merged into a single body
as had been the case in the past. (David Nissman)
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