RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT
Vol. 4, No. 8, 16 March 2001
A Review of Developments in Iraq Prepared by the Regional
Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
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HEADLINES:
* UN TO INVESTIGATE TORTURE IN IRAQ
* IRAQ BEGINS TRAINING 'JERUSALEM LIBERATION ARMY'
* RUSSIA DENIES BAGHDAD PRODUCING WMD
* NEW U.S. ADMINISTRATION SEEN SHIFTING FOCUS
* TURKEY'S CEM: NO PRESSURE BEING APPLIED ON IRAQ
ISSUE
* SADDAM SAYS IMF IS 'SATAN OF IMPERIALISM'
* IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER AT ARAB LEAGUE MEETINGS
* IRAQ JOINS ARAB DRUG-FIGHTING EFFORTS
* EGYPTIAN-IRAQI TIES EXPAND
* JORDAN SEEKS TO EXPAND ECONOMIC TIES WITH IRAQ
* LEBANON SECRETLY NORMALIZES RELATIONS WITH IRAQ
* IRAQI TIES WITH ALGERIA ALSO EXPAND
* BAGHDAD TO OPEN EMBASSY IN ARMENIA
* SLAVNEFT TO DEVELOP IRAQI OIL DEPOSIT...
* ...AND IRAQI VP TO VISIT MOSCOW
* UKRAINE BIDS TO SELL TRUCKS TO IRAQ
* ANOTHER BOMBING IN IRBIL
* KDP, UN DISCUSS COOPERATION
* KURDISH SDS BACK PUK-KDP PEACE PROCESS
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UN TO INVESTIGATE TORTURE IN IRAQ. The UN Human Rights
envoy to Iraq, Andreas Mavromattis, will visit Iraq to
probe "numerous" allegations of torture, inhumane
treatment, disappearances, and arbitrary arrests by Iraqi
authorities, according to an AFP report of 12 March.
Mavromattis said he also wanted to investigate the fate of
prostitutes because of reports that several women suspected
of prostitution had been executed.
Mavromattis toured Iraq in November 2000 and has
gathered the testimonies of Iraqi refugees who detailed
hundreds of arbitrary arrests and executions carried out by
Iraqi security forces against the country's Shi'ite
community. The UN envoy also said he wanted to look into
allegations that the death penalty was often applied
retroactively and the victims' families were only told of
it years later. (David Nissman)
IRAQ BEGINS TRAINING 'JERUSALEM LIBERATION ARMY.' Iraq
began training the second batch of volunteers for what it
calls the "Jerusalem Liberation Army" on 11 March, INA and
Xinhua reported on 11 March. This is part of the effort
Saddam Husseyn announced on 17 February to create a 21-
division-strong command to be used against Israel. Baghdad
has claimed that more than six million Iraqis have
volunteered to serve in it so far. Saddam has pledged to
spend one billion euros ($930 million) to support the
Palestinians, and already has sent four shipments of relief
goods to Jordan for eventual distribution to the
Palestinians.
Despite these reports, no one yet knows what this
"Army" will do, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has
ridiculed Saddam's calls for war. But meanwhile, according
to AFP on 13 March, Arab foreign ministers have appealed
for an international protection force for the Palestinians.
An Arab League statement said that "Arab countries together
address the United Nations Security Council asking it to
meet immediately to study ways to set up an international
force to protect the Palestinian people." (David Nissman)
RUSSIA DENIES BAGHDAD PRODUCING WMD. The Russian Foreign
Ministry has denied a report in London's "Financial Times"
that the UN inspection commission had found evidence that
Baghdad is producing weapons of mass destruction, Russian
and Western agencies reported. Moscow's "Nezavisimaya
gazeta" even suggested that the UN commission had not
really been functioning since December 1998 and therefore
could not have found any evidence. The ministry suggested
that the report had been planted by those in Britain and
the United States who want to justify recent U.S.-U.K.
bombing attacks against Iraq. (David Nissman)
NEW U.S. ADMINISTRATION SEEN SHIFTING FOCUS. Iraqi
political activist Ghasan Al-'Atiyah noted in London's "Al-
Hayat" on 8 March that the U.S.-U.K. bombing beyond the no-
fly zone areas represented a shift in allied strategy and
suggested that the new U.S. administration is prepared to
be "quick and decisive" in dealing with Saddam Husseyn. And
a Paris newspaper, "L'Expansion" said on 1 March that "if
George Bush and Colin Powell put an end to the strict
embargo that has harmed the civilian population in
particular and focus their strategy on a true
destabilization of the government that is in place in
Baghdad, the United States could find a life saver to make
their regional policy take off in another way; because by
more intelligently inconveniencing Saddam Husseyn,they will
above all inconvenience the most hard-core Islamists in
Tehran and the most intransigent military men in Damascus."
But then on 10 March, the "Chicago Tribune" reported that
the Bush administration is considering a plan to scale back
enforcement of the no-fly zones over Iraq. (David Nissman)
TURKEY'S CEM: 'NO PRESSURE BEING APPLIED ON IRAQ ISSUE.' In
an interview on 6 March on Ankara's TRT 2 Television,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said that "no pressure
is being applied [from Washington and London] on Turkey
regarding the issue of Iraq," adding that reports to that
effect "do not affect the reality." His comments come as
Turkey has upgraded its representation in Baghdad to the
ambassadorial level and expressed a strong desire to up its
level of trade to the pre-Gulf War level.
Cem added that "...no one would even think about
imposing conditions on Turkey that would counter its
national interests." The day before, Turkish Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit was asked by "Anatolia" whether the U.S.
government had asked Turkey to change its Iraqi policy in
order to obtain financial aid from the IMF and the World
Bank. Ecevit replied that these were two separate issues
and that the United States never attempted to view them
together. An AFP report of 11 March said that a 400-member
Turkish trade mission headed for Iraq on 12 March "to
relaunch economic ties now considered obsolete."
Meanwhile, U.S. officials said on 13 March that Turkey
could set up economic relations with Iraq on condition it
does not violate the embargo imposed on the Baghdad regime.
Richard Boucher, U.S. State Department spokesman, said they
had discussed with Turkey and other regional countries an
Iraq policy which would tighten measures against smuggling,
and weapon and money transfers to Iraq, however at the same
time would facilitate transfer of equipment necessary for
civilian people, according to a report from "Anadolu
Ajansi" on 13 March. (David Nissman)
SADDAM SAYS IMF IS 'SATAN OF IMPERIALISM.' Saddam Husseyn
on 11 March told visiting Ricardo Alarcone, president of
the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power, that the IMF
"is lethal because it is now the main tool of modern
imperialism and is an imperial command center intended to
not only control people, but also affect their political
stability in one way or the other." He added that "the IMF
is the Satan of imperialism." Saddam insisted that inter-
Arab ties are good and improving and that "the United
States and Britain are now losing with their continued
aggression against Iraq." (David Nissman)
IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER AT ARAB LEAGUE MEETINGS. Baghdad
Radio on 10 March reported that Iraqi Foreign Minister
Muhammad Sa'id Al-Sahhaf left for Cairo to attend the 115th
session of the Arab League Council which is preparing for
the Arab summit to be held in Amman later this month. Al-
Sahhaf was quoted as saying that Arab foreign ministers
will discuss ways and means of upgrading joint Arab action
to face the challenges and dangers facing the Arab nation,
inter-Arab relations and the coordination of stands vis-a-
vis current regional or international issues. Al-Sahhaf
indicated that he will concentrate on bilateral relations
and on coordination of efforts to confront the ongoing
U.S.-U.K. aggression against Iraq. (David Nissman)
IRAQ JOINS ARAB DRUG-FIGHTING EFFORTS. Baghdad has joined
an Arab treaty to combat drug trafficking, UPI reported on
12 March. An Iraqi Interior Ministry official told the
service that Baghdad had recently issued a decree on this,
thus confirming Iraqi membership in a measure endorsed by
other Arab interior ministries earlier this year. (David
Nissman)
EGYPTIAN-IRAQ TIES EXPAND. Two Egyptian trade delegations
visited Iraq at the end of February, the latest indication
of expanding ties between the two countries, Cairo's "Al-
Akhbar" reported on 6 March.
During the fourth phase of the oil-for-food program,
Egypt's share was $54 million - now it is $1.2 billion,
the paper said, and Egypt has become Iraq's third largest
supplier, behind only Russia and China. Yusuf Butrus Ghali,
Egyptian economy and foreign trade minister and leader of
one of the Egyptian delegations in February, stressed that
"the Iraqi market is a new and expanding market for
Egyptian products that would boost Egyptian exports and
create more job opportunities inside Egypt."
But not all Egyptians feel the trade is worth it. Rida
Khilal, a correspondent in Kuwait during the Iraqi
invasion, wrote an article critical of Egypt's "Iraqi
lobby" in "Al-Ahram" on 8 March. He wrote that "we have no
objection to the concept of forming a lobby, but every
pressure group in the world announces its activities and
declares that it applied pressure in order to realize
specific interests....The convoys of artists, intellectuals
and businessmen claim that they flock to Iraq to support
its children, but this feeble excuse would be worthless if
the pilgrimage to Baghdad was aimed at realizing personal
goals that could only be achieved by pledging allegiance to
Saddam Husseyn and his regime. He adds "the Iraqi lobby is
asking us to believe the lies and respect the crimes."
(David Nissman)
JORDAN SEEKS TO EXPAND ECONOMIC TIES WITH IRAQ. A Jordanian
delegation, headed by Trade and Industry Minister Wasaf
Azzar, visited Baghdad to expand ties, Reuters reported on
3 February. Azzar said that Jordan is interested in signing
a free-trade accord with Iraq similar to those signed
between Iraq, Syria, and Egypt.
He also focused on problems facing Jordan in exporting
$450 million of goods under a barter deal that ensures that
Baghdad supplies Jordan with all its energy needs. Iraq
currently delivers 4.8 million tons of crude oil and about
$600 million of other goods via Jordan.
A commentary in "star.arabia.com" from Jordan on 28
January put the free-trade agreement in a clearer context.
Professor Muhammad Saqar of the University of Jordan said
that the "Iraqi-Egyptian [agreement] is a significant and
substantial example other Arab countries must follow" and
that it will also have consequences on Egyptian-Jordanian
trade. Nasir Ahmad Khalil, minister plenipotentiary of the
Egyptian Embassy in Jordan, noted that he believed that the
"free-trade agreement with Iraq will eventually strengthen
economic relations with Jordan." (David Nissman)
LEBANON SECRETLY NORMALIZES RELATIONS WITH IRAQ. Beirut's
"Daily Star" on 12 March said that diplomats and analysts
are still puzzled by Lebanon's decision to secretly
normalize its relations with Baghdad. The paper said that
Arab pressure on Lebanese authorities had intensified after
Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Sa'id Al-Sahhaf supported
Lebanon at the Arab League meeting last year to support
Lebanon during the Israeli occupation of the South. Another
factor in the decision was a demand by Iraq that Beirut
rehabilitate an existing petroleum pipeline linking Iraq to
Lebanon via Syria. And still a third was pressure from
Lebanese businessmen who hope to benefit from better ties.
(David Nissman)
IRAQI TIES WITH ALGERIA ALSO EXPAND. Proceedings of the
Algerian-Iraqi follow-up committee on 10 March began in
Algiers under the chairmanship of the director-general of
the Arab Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Abdelhamid Bouzahir, and the secretary-general of the Iraqi
Finance Ministry, Hasim Ubayd, according to Radio Algiers.
The committee is to assess bilateral cooperation within the
framework of implementing the recommendations of the last
meeting of the same committee in Baghdad on last 11 June.
The two sides have agreed to set up sectoral working
groups, the first of which will take charge of all social
and economic issues, and the second will examine issues
related to cultural, scientific, and social cooperation
between Algeria and Iraq. (David Nissman)
BAGHDAD TO OPEN EMBASSY IN ARMENIA. The Armenian Foreign
Ministry informed Interfax on 12 March that Iraq plans to
open its embassy in Armenia sometime this year. Armenia
opened an embassy in Baghdad in February 2001. (David
Nissman)
SLAVNEFT TO DEVELOP IRAQI OIL DEPOSITŠ The Russian-
Belarusian oil company Slavneft and the Iraqi Oil Ministry
on 5 March initialed an agreement on the development of the
Subba oil deposit, "Interfax" reported on 6 March. A final
contract may be signed within 45 days, after additional
financial consultations. The Subba deposit reserves are
estimated in excess of 105 million tons. (David Nissman)
ŠAND IRAQI VP TO VISIT MOSCOW. Iraqi Vice President Taha
Yasin Ramadan has been invited to visit Moscow at the
invitation of the Russian government, INA reported on 11
March. In January Iraqi Minister of Health 'Umid Midhat
Mubarak visited Russia. No date for Ramadan's visit has
been set. (David Nissman)
UKRAINE BIDS TO SELL TRUCKS TO IRAQ. Ukraine's AvtoKraz is
bidding to supply 13-20-ton trucks to Iraq, Interfax
reported on 13 March. The company is offering its KRAZ-6510
13.5 ton and KRAZ-650055 16-ton four-wheel drive dump
trucks. The trucks have eight cylinder 330-horsepower
engines. The winner will be announced in May. Other Russian
and European producers are also involved in the bidding.
Currently, Iraq has some 1500 KRAZ trucks that it purchased
before the Gulf War. (David Nissman)
ANOTHER BOMBING IN IRBIL. On 9 March, an explosion occurred
on the main street of the working class Surchiyan district
in Irbil, the regional capital of the Kurdistan Democratic
Party-controlled part of the Kurdistan Regional Government,
according to a report from Kurdistan Satellite TV from
Salah Al-Din on 9 March. It was by no means the first such
bomb to be set off in Irbil (see "RFERL Iraq Report," Vol.
3, 24 November on the bomb on 16 November). There seems to
be no specific target in mind. In this case; two cars and a
number of shops suffered heavy material damage, and two
women were injured lightly. (David Nissman)
KDP, UN DISCUSS COOPERATION. Sami Abd-Al-Rahman, deputy
head of the KDP-controlled territories of the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG) met John Almstrom, coordinator of
the UN Office of Humanitarian Coordination for Iraq
(UNOHCI) and two of his assistants to discuss preparations
for the visit of Tun Myat, UN coordinator for UNOHCI. Abd-
Al-Rahman also met with a representative of the Swedish
Qandil organization, and discussed, among other items, the
construction of 70 houses that are ready for distribution
in the town of Binaslawa. (David Nissman)
KURDISH SDS BACKS PUK-KDP PEACE PROCESS. The Kurdistan
Social Democratic Party Central Committee met to discuss
the political situation in the region, Al-Sulaymaniyah's
"Rebazi Azadi" reported on 28 February. The committee
expressed its support for the peace process between the PUK
(Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and the KDP (Kurdistan
Democratic Party). (David Nissman)
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