RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT
Vol. 4, No. 9, 23 March 2001
A Review of Developments in Iraq Prepared by the Regional
Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
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HEADLINES
* SENIOR BAGHDAD OFFICIALS ARRESTED FOR CORRUPTION
* WASHINGTON MAY GIVE AID TO VARIOUS OPPOSITION GROUPS
* IRAQ, RUSSIA CALL FOR LIFTING OF NO-FLY ZONES
* IS KUWAIT SHIFTING ITS POSITION ON IRAQ?
* KUWAIT-IRAQ RECONCILIATION AND ARAB SUMMIT
* TURKISH TRADE WITH IRAQ EXPANDS
* SYRIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER
* AZIZ MEETS WITH YEMENI FOREIGN MINISTER
* OMANI FOREIGN MINISTER ON IRAQ
* IRAQI VP RECEIVES TUNISIAN TRADE MINISTER
* ZARUBEZHNEFT RECEIVES PERMISSION TO DRILL IN IRAQ
* IRAQ, MALAYSIA TO COOPERATE IN MEDICAL FIELD
* 'REPUBLIC OF SIRNAK' SCRUTINIZED BY PRESS
* TWO VIEWS ON THE KURDISH FUTURE IN IRAQ
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SENIOR BAGHDAD OFFICIALS ARRESTED FOR CORRUPTION. The
Persian Gulf newspaper "Al-Watan" reported on 16 March that
Iraqi security agencies on orders of Qusay Saddam Husseyn
arrested Salah Kuzayyir, the head of the electricity
commission, on charges of corruption. In addition, the
security agencies arrested several of Kuzayyir's senior
aides. The paper said that the commission has signed
contracts worth more than $2.9 billion over the last decade
and that more than one official there has taken kickbacks.
Meanwhile, an unconfirmed report says that Kuzayyir was
involved in paying more than $13 million to government
officials abroad. The "Middle East Economic Digest" on 23
March reported that Kuzayyir has been replaced by Sabhan
Faysal Mahjub. (David Nissman)
WASHINGTON MAY GIVE AID TO VARIOUS OPPOSITION GROUPS.
According to wire service reports on 20 March, the new U.S.
administration is considering channeling some of the $25
million allocated for Iraqi opposition groups to
organizations not under the umbrella of the Iraq National
Congress (INC). A State Department official was quoted by
Reuters as saying that "We're making a good-faith effort
but so far the INC has not come up with a plan that meets
the legal requirements. So we're not going to rule out
other potential grantees who may do the job faster and
better." Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Richard
Boucher said that the INC had been effective in reporting
Baghdad's abuses. (David Nissman)
IRAQ, RUSSIA CALL FOR LIFTING OF NO-FLY ZONES. On 18 March,
Iraqi National Assembly speaker Sa'dun Hammadi and visiting
Russian State Duma Speaker Gennadii Seleznev demanded that
the U.S. and Britain stop their joint patrolling over the
no-fly zones, which both Russia and Iraq consider
irrelevant to UN resolutions, according to a report by
Xinhua of 18 March. Seleznev, who had met with Saddam
Husseyn earlier that day, also called for lifting sanctions
on Iraq. Saddam, for his part, expressed his appreciation
for Moscow's pro-Iraq efforts. (David Nissman)
IS KUWAIT SHIFTING ITS POSITION ON IRAQ? Iraqi Foreign
Minister Muhammad Sa'id Al-Sahhaf and his Kuwaiti
counterpart Shaykh Sabah Al-Jabir Al-Sabah are to hold
separate talks with King Abdullah in Amman, according to
the "Jordan Times" of 20 March. Kuwait reportedly will
adopt a "new approach" toward resolving its differences
with Iraq. "Kuwait does not object to the lifting of
sanctions on Iraq but it believes also that Iraq should
implement the world body's resolution," the message Al-
Sabah is carrying reportedly says. (David Nissman)
KUWAIT-IRAQ RECONCILIATION AND ARAB SUMMIT. The "Jordan
Times" of 21 March said that "it is a matter of some
urgency that the Arab League summit meeting in Amman next
week tries to achieve consensus on the need to reconcile
Iraq and Kuwait to help eliminate major reasons that have
contributed to the current sad state of affairs prevailing
in the region." But the editorial admits that no unilateral
solution will emerge permitting the lifting of sanctions on
Iraq as was demanded by Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin
Ramadan on 19 March. It adds that such a demand "is not
very correct." because the sanctions were imposed by the UN
Security Council to prevent Saddam Husseyn from rebuilding
his weapons of mass destruction and threatening the region.
The editorial adds that "for their part, Arabs cannot end
the sanctions unilaterally." (David Nissman)
TURKISH TRADE WITH IRAQ EXPANDS. Turkish Undersecretary for
Foreign Trade Kursad Tuzmen visited Baghdad to promote
trade between the two countries, according to an article in
the "Turkish Daily News" on 15 March. Meanwhile, Iraqi
Trade Minister Muhammad Mahdi Salih said it was President
Saddam Husseyn's desire to improve economic ties with
Turkey. He also said that Britain and the United States did
not feel any compassion for the deterioration of Iraqi-
Turkish economic relations as they were not affected by it.
While in Baghdad, Tuzman pointed out that Turkey seeks to
increase trade with its neighbors and believes that a
floating currency system would allow them to increase
purchases from Ankara, "Anadolu Ajansi" reported on 14
March. (David Nissman)
SYRIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER. Bashar
Al-Asad received Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Said Al-
Sahhaf at the People's Palace in Damascus on 15 March. Also
attending the meeting were Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq
Al-Shar'a, Iraqi Foreign Minister Undersecretary Dr. Nabil
Najm, and the head of the Iraqi Affairs Department in
Damascus, Muhammad Rif'at Al-Ani. Baghdad Radio on 15 March
reported that Al-Sahhaf also discussed Iraq's views on
lifting the unjust embargo imposed on it. (David Nissman)
AZIZ MEETS WITH YEMENI FOREIGN MINISTER. On 18 March Tariq
Aziz, Iraq's deputy prime minister, received Abd-Al-Qadir-
Ba-Jammal, Yemeni deputy prime minister and foreign
minister, according to Baghdad Television on 18 March. They
reportedly discussed the upcoming Arab summit and the
current Arab situation as well as ties between Iraq and
Yemen and the need to strengthen these ties in all fields
for the benefit of the two states. (David Nissman)
OMANI FOREIGN MINISTER ON IRAQ. Following a meeting of the
Omani-Egyptian joint committee, the Omani minister for
foreign affairs said that there was consensus among the
other Arabs on the need to lift the embargo and end the
suffering of the Iraqi people. But he also said
reconciliation and the Iraqi file could not be achieved
within one session or solved rapidly during the upcoming
Amman summit, according to the Muscat "Daily Observer" of
14 March. (David Nissman)
IRAQI VP RECEIVES TUNISIAN TRADE MINISTER. Baghdad Radio
reported on 16 March that Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin
Ramadan had received Tunisian Trade Minister Tahar Sioud to
discuss economic ties between the two. Ramadan observed
that the first popular Arab delegation to visit Iraq
following the ceasefire in 1991 was from Tunisia, and Sioud
expressed his admiration for the Iraqi people's
steadfastness, which has become an example for the Arab
"nation" in confronting the imperialist hegemony. (David
Nissman)
ZARUBEZHNEFT RECEIVES PERMISSION TO DRILL IN IRAQ. Russia's
Zarubezhneft has received UN permission to drill 45
exploratory wells in northern Iraq. According to a report
from Interfax from 14 March, the UN Sanctions Committee
gave Zarubezhneft approval to carry out work on the
approximately $8 million contract in mid-December 2000.
Another Russian company, Tatneft, will carry out the
drilling work on behalf of Zarubezhneft as part of the UN
oil-for-food program. In addition, Russia's LUKoil has
received an official invitation to participate in the
exploration of nine hydrocarbon deposits in Iraq. LUKoil's
first deputy vice president told Interfax that his company
will work within the framework of the international
sanctions. (David Nissman)
IRAQ, MALAYSIA TO COOPERATE IN MEDICAL FIELD. Official
Iraqi-Malaysian talks in the health, medicine, and
prevention fields began in Baghdad on 15 March, according
to Baghdad Radio. The two sides discussed a number of
issues, including hospitals, training, medical instruction,
preventive medicine, medicinal industries, and medical
equipment. They also talked about the possibility of
training medical cadres and exchanging visits by medical
delegations. The Malaysian visitors reportedly emphasized
the importance of Iraq's participation in the medical
conferences and fairs held in Malaysia, especially the
international medical conference to be held in Jakarta in
September. (David Nissman)
'REPUBLIC OF SIRNAK' SCRUTINIZED BY PRESS. The "Kurdish
Observer" on 14 March carried an expose of the activities
of a criminal organization which it alleges is controlled
by JITEM (The Gendarmerie Intelligence Agency) located in
the city of Silopi, on the Turkish-Iraqi border. Sirnak's
name is the name of the "il," or administrative district of
which Silopi is the major city. Under Silopi's jurisdiction
is the Khabur Border Gate, through which some $2 billion
worth of goods, mostly petroleum products, annually goes
through.
The "Kurdish Observer" claims that "the smuggling of
heroin, diesel fuel, weapons, and archaeological artifacts
is being carried out in a very organized manner through
Khabur Border Gate." JITEM members control the border
crossing. Within Silopi's borders, the center of JITEM
activity is said to be BOTAS, the Turkish pipeline company
headquartered in the city. As the "Kurdish Observer" says,
the "strategic importance of BOTAS is highlighted in the
'protection' of this triangle in which the borders of
Turkey, Iraq, and Syria all meet."
"Sirnak" has also been implicated in the fate of some
60 people who have disappeared from the Silopi district
center and the surrounding villages in recent years. A
Captain Narlioglu and his team - which have captured
people crossing the border illegally - have "riddled them
with bullets" and then told the press "we killed some PKK
members." The article also accuses special team members of
the "government of the nation of Sirnak" of torturing the
mayor of Silopi and four of his siblings. The torturers are
reportedly being protected by Silopi's current mayor, Neset
Okten. Many other cases are cited about the activities of
the "government of the Nation of Sirnak." (David Nissman)
TWO VIEWS ON THE KURDISH FUTURE IN IRAQ. A pro-Saddam
Husseyn Iraqi hailed Baghdad's approach to the Kurdish
people's "legitimate national rights" in "Al-'Iraq" on 17
March. But Siamand Banaa, a representative of the Kurdistan
Regional Government, in a speech to the "Campaign against
Sanctions in Iraq" conference at Cambridge University, 10-
11 March, described another facet of Baghdad's policies
against the Kurds in recent years. The difference between
them highlights both the problems of the Kurds and of those
who seek to understand and help them.
Banaa claims that during the Kurdish uprising 10 years
ago, "tons of documents captured during the uprising
clearly prove that the total eradication of the Kurdish
identity through the physical destruction of life and
property was the regime's preferred solution to the Kurdish
problem in Iraq." Moreover, he says, in April 1991, the
Republican Guard - supported by tanks and helicopter
gunships - swept back into the region, prompting the
establishment of the "Safe Havens," the area above the 36th
parallel. Shortly thereafter, the no-fly zones were
established.
But "Al-Iraq" points to Saddam Husseyn as the defender
of Kurdish autonomy, when he says from the very beginning:
"we have had a principled view and an ethical position on
the Kurdish issue. The circumstances, the complicated
problems, and the wide and serious imperialist-reactionary
conspiratorial attempts have not affected our view and
position. The revolution, which regards its own commitment
to the basic pillars as a substantive thing in its strength
and continuity, will always continue to realize and
emphasize its adherence to those pillars not only under the
circumstances of the difficulties and dangers but also
under the circumstances of victories and detente. This is
the revolution's path and ethics." (David Nissman)
Copyright (c) 2001. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
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