RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT
Vol. 4, No. 14, 27 April 2001
A Review of Developments in Iraq Prepared by the Regional
Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
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HEADLINES:
* BND SAYS IRAQ DEVELOPING NEW CHEMICAL WEAPONS
* 'DISENCHANTMENT' RUMORED AMONG IRAQ SECURITY
SERVICES
* QUSAY EXECUTES 1,000 PRISONERS
* ELECTIONS SAID INTENDED TO GROOM QUSAY FOR SENIOR
PARTY POST
* AL-SAHHAF SEEN AS HAVING FAILED AS FOREIGN MINISTER
* SADDAM'S BIRTHDAY TO COST $25 MILLION
* RAMADAN SAYS IRAQ-RUSSIA TIES 'AT NEW LEVEL'...
* ...AND RUSSIA TO LAUNCH IRAQI SATELLITES
* IRAQI VP VISITS TATARSTAN
* SERBIAN SOCIALIST PARTY DELEGATION TO VISIT BAGHDAD
* IRAQ TO BOYCOTT ISLAMIC PARLIAMENTARY MEETING
* SAUDIS SEND 35 TONS OF MEDICINE TO IRAQ
* YEMEN, RUSSIA DISCUSS IRAQ
* BARZANI PUTS 'FINAL TOUCHES' ON PEACE WITH PUK
* TALABANI OPTIMISTIC ABOUT KURDISH FUTURE
* KDP, PUK FORCES WITHDRAW FROM CONTACT LINES
* TURKISH DEFENSE MINISTER ATTENDS IRAQI TURKMEN
RECEPTION
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BND SAYS IRAQ DEVELOPING NEW CHEMICAL WEAPONS. August
Hanning, the director of the German intelligence service BND, told
Hamburg's "Welt am Sonntag" on 22 April that Iraq is developing a new
class of chemical weapons. He said that several German companies have
delivered to Baghdad components needed for the production of poison
gas. And he warned that Iraq is now working on missiles that could
reach as far as Germany in the future. He said: "We must assume that
these weapons will be ready for use by 2015 at the latest." Hanning
said that Germany has handed over its data to the United Nations.
(David Nissman)
'DISENCHANTMENT' RUMORED AMONG IRAQ SECURITY SERVICES.
Loyalty among Saddam Husseyn's security services is no longer a sure
thing, Iraqi merchants visiting Damascus have told London's "Al-
Zaman" on 18 April. They specifically said that "the loyalty that
these services showed in protecting the Saddam regime in 1991 will
not be repeated."
Many officers are so poorly paid that they must find extra
jobs, the paper said. Reports say that security and intelligence
officials feel they are less privileged than the Special Security
Service (SSS) officers, and that perks and gifts received by higher
officers are not being passed to those of lower rank. And they added
that the SSS has discovered that a number of intelligence and
security officials have developed links with Arab, Iranian, and
Turkish merchants with whom they have concluded commercial deals.
In a related development, Iraq is now suffering from a shortage
of policemen. "Iraq Press" on 23 April reported that Lieutenant.
General Hamid 'Uthman Saba'a, Iraq's police chief, recently told the
"Al-Zawra" weekly that not a single Iraqi has volunteered to join the
police. As a result, the short-handed police were able to solve only
11,000 of the 35,000 crimes committed in 2000, and the Interior
Ministry has been forced to use army conscripts and civilian security
guards in their place. (David Nissman)
QUSAY EXECUTES 1,000 PRISONERS. London's "Iraq Press" on 21
April reported that Qusay Husseyn executed 1,000 prisoners as part of
an effort to "cleanse" Iraqi prisons of those who rose up against
Saddam Husseyn at the end of the Gulf War. The paper said that the
executions took place between October and December 2000 at the Abu
Ghrayb prison, 20 kilometers west of Baghdad. Those killed were among
the 3,000 people imprisoned immediately after the Gulf War. The
relatives of the other 2,000 do not know the fate of their fathers,
sons, husbands, and brothers, the paper added. (David Nissman)
ELECTIONS SAID INTENDED TO GROOM QUSAI FOR SENIOR PARTY
POST. Elections to choose a new leadership for the ruling Ba'th
Party are currently underway in Iraq, and according to London's "Iraq
Press," one of the main aims of this vote is to advance Saddam
Husseyn's youngest son, Qusay to a senior party post. Saddam pushed
up the elections, and his oldest son 'Uday orchestrated a media
campaign calling for the replacement of "the party's old guard." The
elections are scheduled to be completed by 28 April, Saddam's
birthday. Qusay now runs Iraq's security apparatus, and is generally
viewed as his father's designated successor. (David Nissman)
AL-SAHHAF SEEN HAVING FAILED AS FOREIGN MINISTER. Muhammad
Sa'id Al-Sahhaf's transfer from the post of foreign minister to that
of minister of information was not unjustified, according to a number
of analysts. London's "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" on 21 April noted that
developments at the Arab summit in Amman had shown that "Al-Sahhaf
and his delegation were not aware of the secret activities that were
going on for several weeks behind their backs." The paper adds that
Iraq's leadership had sent to Amman "a broken record that only knew
how to repeat insults, that forgot the nature of his post as foreign
minister, and that ignored the new developments that were evolving in
the favor of his country." And it suggests that Al-Sahhaf is now in
the right place, as information minister.
Meanwhile, "Al-Quds Al-'Arabi" of 21-22 April said that Al-
Sahhaf had been shifted following sharp criticism by Saddam's son
'Uday, who pointed out in the 5 April edition of the Baghdad
newspaper "Babil" (which 'Uday controls) that the Iraqi delegation in
Amman "had ignored Saddam's instructions not to discuss the Iraq
issue and focus on the Palestinian-Arab conflict." An Arab analyst,
also quoted by "Al-Quds Al-Arabi," said that his performance was
"poor" and that "we know that he does not decide Iraq's foreign
policy, but his undiplomatic and distinctly discourteous stand cost
the Iraqi diplomacy much, particularly on the Arab front."
Another analyst cited by the paper said that 'Uday's attacks on
him were a key factor in his demotion and transfer. (David Nissman)
SADDAM'S BIRTHDAY TO COST $25 MILLION. Izzat Ibrahim Al-Duri,
vice chairman of the Iraqi Revolution Command Council and chairman of
a higher committee for Saddam Husseyn's birthday, has met with
governors and leading officials of the Ba'th Party to discuss and
approve plans for celebrating Saddam Husseyn's birthday, according to
"Al-Hayat" on 22 April. The celebration, to take place in Tikrit on
28 April, will cost more than $25 million. Among the projects to be
completed in advance of that date are the erection of 20 statues and
the installation of 100 new murals about the Iraqi leader. On 23
April, the Iraqi parliament called for Saddam's birthday to become a
national holiday. (David Nissman)
RAMADAN SAYS IRAQ-RUSSIA TIES AT 'NEW LEVEL'... Iraqi Vice
President Taha Yasin Ramadan said his visit to Moscow had
demonstrated that Iraqi-Russian ties are now at "a new level,"
Interfax reported. The two countries agreed on the need to lift
sanctions and also on a variety of scientific, technical, and
cultural cooperation projects. (David Nissman)
...AND RUSSIA TO LAUNCH IRAQI SATELLITES. The Intersputnik
international space communications organization and the Russian Alfa
Eco company will pool efforts to launch communications satellites and
develop the telecom system of Iraq, "Interfax" reported on 19 April.
But this will not restore Iraq's military telecom systems, Russian
officials said. Viktor Veshchunov, head of the Intersputnik
international department, said that the possibility of building a
ground station in Iraq that would be used for telephone
communications and television broadcast via an Intersputnik
satellite. Intersputnik had built such a station in the 1980s, but it
was destroyed in the Gulf War. (David Nissman)
IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT VISITS TATARSTAN. After his stay in
Moscow, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan visited Tatarstan for
two days, meeting with Tatar officials and discussing economic
cooperation. Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov told RIA-Novosti on 21
April that the visit had been "fruitful and useful." (David Nissman)
SERBIAN SOCIALIST PARTY DELEGATION VISITS BAGHDAD. A
Socialist Party of Serbia delegation, headed by Vice President
Zivadin Jovanovic, paid a brief working visit to Iraq at the
invitation of the Arab Socialist Ba'th Party, according to Tanjug on
24 April. The delegation met with several senior Iraqi officials but
not with Saddam Husseyn. (David Nissman)
IRAQ TO BOYCOTT ISLAMIC PARLIAMENTARY MEETING. Iraq announced
on 22 April that it will not attend the Islamic Parliamentary Meeting
in Tehran in protest over the missile attack by Iran on Iraqi
territory, DPA reported on 22 April. Iraqi National Assembly speaker
Sa'dun Hammadi said that "Iraq has decided to boycott the Islamic
Parliamentary Meeting, designed to express support for the
Palestinian uprising, in protest against the armed Iranian attack on
Iraqi territory. On the next day, Reuters reported that Iraq had
accused Iran of 61 cease-fire violations in the first 10 weeks of the
year. These violations do not include the Iranian missile attack on
the Mujahedin-e Khalq bases inside Iraq. Iran accuses Iraq of
sheltering the Mujahedin, who are the main Iranian opposition group.
(David Nissman)
SAUDIS SEND 35 TONS OF MEDICINE TO IRAQ. Saudi Pharmaceuticals
has delivered 35 tons of medicine to Iraq as part of the first
contract won by the firm under the UN oil-for-food program, according
to AFP of 24 April. The Saudi newspaper "Al-Riyadh" added that the
company had won the contract after direct talks with the Iraqi
Ministry of Health. (David Nissman)
YEMEN, RUSSIA DISCUSS IRAQ. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Baker
Al-Kirbi is in Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov on Iraq and military cooperation, AFP reported on 24 April.
They are to discuss the situation in the Persian Gulf and solving the
Iraq conflict and to prepare for the upcoming visit of Yemeni
President Ali Abdallah Saleh later this year. (David Nissman)
BARZANI PUTS 'FINAL TOUCHES' ON PEACE WITH PUK. KDP leader
Mas'ud Barzani said in Irbil on 22 April that "we are working on
putting the Kurdish house in order. Very good steps have been taken.
I hope that a good peace will be achieved. We are in the process of
putting the final touches [on it]. We will not fulfill the enemies'
aim of killing Kurds at the hands of Kurds," Salah Al-Din-based
Kurdistan Satellite TV reported. (David Nissman)
TALABANI OPTIMISTIC ABOUT KURDISH FUTURE. In an interview
published in Cairo's "Al-Ahram Al-'Arabi" on 21 April, PUK leader
Jalal Talabani said that the establishment of the "safe haven" for
the Kurds of Iraq had created a "favorable climate for the democratic
experience in Iraqi Kurdistan. It brought us closer to our central
goal of setting up a pluralistic democratic system that includes all
Iraq and guarantees the Kurds their autonomy within the context of a
united Iraqi confederation." Talabani emphasized that "we have no
separatist ambition," but he added that the Kurdish people do have
the right to autonomy. At the same time, he said that Kurds must be
careful in their dealings with the Iraqi opposition lest they be made
"scapegoats." (David Nissman)
KDP, PUK FORCES WITHDRAW FROM CONTACT LINES. On 18 April
military delegations of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) met at the Pirar border point
between KDP- and PUK-controlled territories of Iraq Kurdistan in
order to organize a pull back of forces from the lines between them
and thus promote the peace process, "KurdSat" reported on 18 April.
(David Nissman)
TURKISH DEFENSE MINISTER ATTENDS IRAQI TURKMEN RECEPTION.
Turkish National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu attended a
reception organized by the Iraqi Turkmen Front on 24 April in Ankara,
"Anadolu Ajansi" on 24 April. Also in attendance were members of the
Turkish Supreme Court, the director-general of the Middle East
Department of the Foreign Ministry, and various other officials.
(David Nissman)
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