RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT
Vol. 4, No. 7, 9 March 2001
A Review of Developments in Iraq Prepared by the Regional
Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
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HEADLINES:
* KURDISH ASSASSINATION CONDEMNED
* WILL FUNDS GO TO SCIRI?
* IRAQI SPIES APPREHENDED
* IRAQ, PAKISTAN DO FOOD AND DRUG DEALS
* IRAQI MEDICINE AND DOCTORS SENT ABROAD
* IRAQ COMPLAINS ABOUT MEDICAL SHORTAGES
* FLIGHTS TO IRAQ DELAYED
* FRANCE UNHAPPY WITH BEING IGNORED
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KURDISH ASSASSINATION CONDEMNED. Thirty-five Kurdistani and
Iraqi political groups issued a joint statement on 27
February condemning the assassination nine days earlier of
Kurdistan Democratic Party central committee member Franso
Hariri, according to Arbil's "Brayati." The fate of
terrorists is bleak, the statement warned, and it is
against the Kurdish democratic experience. Among the
signatories of the statement were groups representing
Assyrians, Chaldeans, Communists, Faylis, Islamists, and
Turkmen.
KDP leader Masud Barzani described his organizations'
stance on terrorism at the mourning ceremony for Hariri.
"We struggle, in all ways, that there would be no
terrorists. I reassure the martyr's comrades that his blood
will be avenged from the terrorists and traitors in a way
that will make them an example." After expressing his
condolences, Barzani warned that "[t]he perpetrators will
remain mortified and they will not escape punishment of the
justice," "Brayati" reported on 24 February. Two days later
"Brayati" reported that the U.S. State Department sent a
message of condolences to Barzani.
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal
Talabani discussed the assassination in an interview with
the Suleimanieh's "Kurdistani Nuwe" on 25 February. "We
believe that this is a vile crime [committed] by the enemy
of the Kurdistan people, peace, brotherhood and general
reconciliation." Talabani expressed the hope that the
killing would not affect the peace process in Kurdistan. At
a 4 March meeting with KDP representatives Jawhar Namiq and
Fadil Mutni at the Pirar border point between KDP and PUK
areas, Talabani expressed his regrets again, Suleimanieh's
KurdSat reported.
Kurdistan politician Davud Bagistani believes that PUK
leader Talabani is responsible for the Hariri killing, the
pro-Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) newspaper "Ozgur
Politika" reported on 23 February. Hariri was always
hostile to Talabani and his alleged proposal that the KDP
go to war with the PKK, according to Bagistani, and the PUK
saw him as an obstacle to its plans. But the PKK itself may
not appreciate the recent rapprochement between the KDP and
PUK. (Bill Samii)
WILL U.S. FUNDS GO TO SCIRI? State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher said on 6 March that the Bush
administration is consulting with the Iraqi National
Congress (INC) and other groups on how to dispense $29
million to fund programs implemented by the opposition to
Iraq's President Saddam Husseyn. It is not clear how much
of that funding will go to the Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), however, possibly
because of its close relationship with Iran.
The office of SCIRI leader Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir
al-Hakim announced on 5 March, according to Tehran's
"Jomhuri-yi Islami" newspaper, that the ayatollah is in
Mecca performing the Hajj. Hakim had not met with U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, nor did he intend to do
so. Furthermore, Hakim "emphasized" that the SCIRI "had
nothing to say to the American Government."
The announcement was in response to a report in the
previous day's issue of London's "Al-Hayat." Citing
"informed sources" in Washington, the influential Saudi-
owned daily had reported that attempts are underway to
arrange a meeting between Powell and Hakim as the Bush
administration charts its Iraq policy. Abd-al-Aziz Baqir
al-Hakim, the ayatollah's brother, met with U.S. officials
in Kuwait recently, "Al-Hayat" added.
Dr. Hamid al-Bayyati, who is the SCIRI's top liaison
with the West and part of the INC leadership, said the
SCIRI had some contacts with the U.S. government at the
London embassy in the early 1990s. The relationship became
weaker later, al-Bayyati told the PBS "Frontline" program
last year, although direct contacts to exchange views about
events in southern Iraq continue. Indeed, former Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright met with an INC delegation, as
well as al-Bayyati, in September 2000 (see "RFE/RL Iraq
Report," 13 October 2000).
Al-Bayyati told "Frontline" that sensitivity on both
sides has hindered stronger ties: "The Americans always
feel that we are an Islamic movement based in Tehran, and
that our activity could be controlled or influenced by the
Iranians. The Americans were actually frightened that, even
if something happened inside Iraq, it would be under the
influence of the Iranians. From our side, the Iraqi people
feel betrayed by the Americans, who brought Saddam to
power, supported Saddam, and didn't take him when they have
the chance during the second Gulf war. Even when we had the
popular uprising, the Americans stood with Saddam, rather
than with the Iraqi people. So, after that in 1995, 1996,
the Iraqi people are sensitive about the American
attitude." (Bill Samii)
IRAQI SPIES APPREHENDED. Two Iraqis are being held in
Heidelberg, Germany, on espionage charges, having been
arrested on 20 and 25 February. A spokesman for the Federal
Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe said that "they are
suspected of carrying out assignments for an Iraqi secret
service in various German cities since the beginning of
2001," London's "Daily Telegraph" reported. The agents'
activities may have been in connection with President
Saddam Husseyn's threat of retaliation for the mid-February
air raids by the U.S. and U.K. on Iraqi military targets.
It is also possible that the agents' initial
assignment was to act against members of the Iraqi
opposition in other countries. Paris's "Al-Watan" had
reported on 8 December that the Iraqi security services had
increased their activities in their embassies in Arab and
European countries. A member of the Islamic Iraqi
opposition in Tehran said that Baghdad has tasked its
Lebanon embassy with preparation of lists of Iraqi
opposition figures, their activities and movements, and the
Iraqi areas from which they originate. (Bill Samii)
IRAQ, PAKISTAN DO FOOD AND DRUG DEALS. Pakistani and Iraqi
officials signed a contract for the purchase of 100,000
metric tons of Pakistani "hard milling" quality wheat,
Islamabad radio reported on 4 March. Seyyed Masud Alam
Rizvi, chairman of the state Trading Corporation of
Pakistan (TCP), signed the contract in Baghdad, and when he
returned to Karachi he said there may be another 150,000-
ton shipment. TCP hopes to ship the first load of wheat to
Baghdad in early May, pending UN approval and receipt of a
Letter of Credit. Rizvi went on to say, Karachi's "Dawn"
reported, that the sale is for $196 per ton. Baghdad
initially was negotiating to purchase 35,000 tons, but it
increased the amount to 100,000 tons when it learned that
"Pakistani wheat was second to none in quality."
Pakistan has being trying to sell its wheat to Iran
since at least November and has consistently been rebuffed
because of excessive prices and poor quality. Pakistan
offered the commodity to Iran at a rate of $157 per ton
(see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 20 and 27 November 2000). Tehran
refused to purchase the grain for being "sub-graded and
infectious," Karachi's "Business Recorder" reported on 23
February.
In what may be a related matter, Iraq has begun
demanding "kickbacks and illegal commissions on contracts
for food, medicine, other essential civilian goods" that
are purchased under the oil-for-food program, according to
"diplomats and UN officials" cited by the 7 March "New York
Times." One of the ways in which this is done - this may
explain the $39 per ton difference between the prices
offered to Iraq and offered to Iran by the TCP for its
wheat - foreigners secretly offer discounted prices on
commodities and record them as being sold at prevailing
world prices. The difference is paid to the Iraqi
leadership.
Rizvi also told "Dawn" that the Export Promotion
Bureau (EPB) has signed a contract with Iraq for the export
of basmati rice. Pakistani Commerce Minister Abdul Rezzaq
Daud had mentioned receipt of the 40,000-ton order during a
2 March press conference in Islamabad. He said that group
of Pakistani rice exporters would leave for the Philippines
on 5 March to negotiate the deal.
Baghdad and Islamabad signed a Memorandum of
Understanding for cooperation in health care on 22
February, Islamabad radio reported. According to an Iraqi
press release cited in the 2 March "Dawn,", the MOU
addressed epidemic disease control; teaching of Iraqi
physicians, pharmacists, medical, and health staff in
Pakistan; pharmaceutical exhibitions; and exchanges of
medical and pharmaceutical experts. (Bill Samii)
IRAQI MEDICINE AND DOCTORS SENT ABROAD. The sixth Iraqi
medical team charged with providing treatment to
individuals injured in the Al Aqsa Intifada, consisting of
specialists in general surgery, neurology, orthopedics,
anesthesiology, and internal medicine, was dispatched to
Amman on 26 February. According to Iraqi state radio, they
were seen off by Health Ministry senior undersecretary
Zuhayr Said Abd-al-Salam. The fifth medical team is working
at the Al-Urdun Hospital in Amman. Some of the injured
people are being treated at Saddam Medical City, and some
of those who have recovered from their injuries "have
returned to Palestine to continue their jihad against the
racist Zionist occupation forces," state television
reported on 8 February. Two truckloads of medical supplies
left Baghdad on 8 February, and Health Minister Umid Midhat
Mubarak saw them off. (Bill Samii)
IRAQ COMPLAINS ABOUT SHORTAGES OF MEDICAL GOODS. Health
Minister Umid Midhat Mubarak complained that Iraq has
received only 42 percent of all the concluded contracts
relating to medical goods, Iraqi state television reported
on 2 March. He added that American and British
representatives have put ten of the most urgent contracts
on hold. Previously, Mubarak complained that much of the
equipment that reaches Baghdad is inoperative because
contracts for some of the components were rejected or
suspended, London's pro-Libyan, Arab nationalist, and anti-
American "Al-Arab al-Alamiyah" daily reported on 15
January. Iraqi officials made similar statements in
December and November Iraqi radio and television reports.
(Bill Samii)
FLIGHTS TO IRAQ DELAYED. Qatar Airways chief executive
officer Akbar al-Baker said that his firm is ready to fly
to Iraq "anytime," and Qatar Airways has already leased an
office in Baghdad. But the airline had to postpone a
charter flight to Iraq. Al-Baker explained that Qatar
Airways requires an extra $62,000 in insurance coverage for
each flight, Doha's "Gulf Times" reported on 28 February.
"Ours is not the only airline which faced cancellation
problems. Four other carriers faced a similar situation,"
al-Baker continued.
UN spokesman Steven Dujarric told ANSA on 23 February
that a Baghdad-bound flight from Rome's Ciampino airport
was not allowed to leave after U.S. representatives to the
UN sanctions committee objected, having been informed that
the carrier, Moldova's Modl Transavia, may be involved with
smuggling. The aircraft allegedly was to transport medical
aid and 90 people, including Italian parliamentarians, aid
group representatives, and journalists.
South Africa's Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed
on 22 February the postponement of a fight to Iraq. The
shipment of six to eight tons of baby formula and medicine
originally was scheduled to leave in mid-February. The
South African Iraq Action Committee, which is opposed to
the sanctions, has called for the delays so it can
accommodate the massive response to its call for
contributions, Johannesburg's SAPA news agency reported on
16 February. (Bill Samii)
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