RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT
Vol. 4, No. 15, 4 May 2001
A Review of Developments in Iraq Prepared by the Regional
Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
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HEADLINES
* BAGHDAD WARNS AGAINST USE OF SATELLITE DISHES
* IRAN DESTROYS MUJAHEDIN-E KHALQ BASES IN IRAQ
* IRAQ SAID TO HAVE TESTED 'DIRTY NUKE' IN 1987
* RAMADAN SAYS U.S., IRAN BOTH ANTI-ARAB
* ZHIRINOVSKY ASKS RUSSIA TO END BLOCKADE OF IRAQ
* RUSSIA, IRAQ SEEK TO EXPAND BILATERAL TRADE
* TURKISH TRADE FAIR OPENS IN BAGHDAD
* BELARUS TO SIGN DIRECT AIR AGREEMENT WITH IRAQ
* SADDAM, SYRIAN PRESIDENT CALL FOR CLOSER TIES
* PUK, TURKMEN, AND ASSYRIAN MOVEMENTS COOPERATING
* BARZANI VISIT TO TURKEY AGAIN DELAYED
* KRG URGES HOLLAND, SWEDEN TO REVERSE DEPORTATION
ORDERS
* BAGHDAD BLAMED FOR AL-SULAYMANIYAH EXPLOSION
* PUK'S TALABANI PROMISES CONCESSIONS FOR PEACE
* WASHINGTON AGREEMENT AFTER SEVEN YEARS
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BAGHDAD WARNS AGAINST USE OF SATELLITE DISHES. Citing
"responsible sources," "Al-Zawra," the weekly paper of the
Iraqi Journalists Union which is under the control of Uday
Saddam Husseyn, said that Baghdad officials have warned
Iraqi citizens against installing satellite dishes without
permission. The paper added that efforts are under way to
define the basis on which permission will be given. (David
Nissman)
IRAN DESTROYS MUJAHEDIN-E KHALQ BASES IN IRAQ. Ali
Younessi, Tehran's intelligence minister, said on 26 April
that Iranian security forces have destroyed all the bases
of the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization (MKO) in Iraq, IRNA
reported. He added that "those who survived the recent
missile attacks fled their bases." And he said the attacks
had been launched to punish the MKO for its terrorist
operations against Iran. But he stressed in conclusion that
"Iran will not let the MKO impede normalization of
relations between her and its neighbors, especially Iraq."
Meanwhile, Baghdad said that last week Iran had fired 56
Scud missiles at MKO bases on Iraqi territory, killing
several people. (David Nissman)
IRAQ SAID TO HAVE TESTED 'DIRTY NUKE' IN 1987. Citing the
Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, "The New York
Times" on 29 April reported that Baghdad tested a primitive
nuclear weapon in 1987. The bomb was a "dirty" one,
intended to inflict illness on personnel rather than to
destroy facilities. Such radiation weapons are often
described as the "poor relations" of actual nuclear
weapons. But the Wisconsin Project said that the Baghdad
test had been a dud, with radiation levels too low to
achieve its goals. Other sources have questioned whether
the bomb could be actually defined as a nuclear weapon.
Meanwhile, Baghdad Television on 1 May quoted the political
editor of the Iraq News Agency as having said that "These
claims and falsehoods, just like the fabrications
propagated by the spies of the now-defunct Special
Commission and the CIA, are part of an anti-Iraqi campaign
launched by Zionist circles more than 10 years ago. Iraq
never tested the alleged bomb." (David Nissman)
RAMADAN SAYS U.S., IRAN BOTH ANTI-ARAB. In a speech to the
Al-Bakr University on 25 April, Iraqi Vice President Taha
Yasin Ramadan said that Iran and the United States share a
common position of "hatred and hostility towards the
Arabs," Baghdad Radio reported. He added that he is
confident that Baghdad's policies will ultimately break the
blockade against Iraq and that American influence in the
region will decline. (David Nissman)
ZHIRINOVSKY ASKS RUSSIA TO END BLOCKADE OF IRAQ. Before
setting out for Iraq to participate in birthday
celebrations for Saddam Husseyn, Duma Vice Speaker and LDPR
leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky again called for an end to the
economic sanctions against Iraq, ITAR-TASS reported. He
said Russia would benefit in that event because "Iraq is
prepared to place orders without delay with 200 Russian
factories, to buy up products designated for civilian and
military purposes that have been stock in Russian
warehouses, as well as inviting to Iraq tens of thousands
of our specialists who are currently jobless here." Also in
Baghdad, Aleksandr Zerov, a senior official of the Russian
Emergencies Ministry, met with Iraqi officials to discuss
expanding cooperation, Radio Baghdad reported on 26 April.
(David Nissman)
RUSSIA, IRAQ SEEK TO EXPAND BILATERAL TRADE. Russian
and Iraqi trade officials on 1 May agreed to work to
expand their bilateral trade, which currently amounts
to $1.5 billion a year, ITAR-TASS reported.
Representatives of the Russian business community on
the delegation - including officers of Energomash,
Mashinimport, LUKoil and Transneft - said that they
too will push for higher trade. At the same time,
Russian officials pressed for discussions on ways that
Baghdad can pay off its $7 billion debt to Moscow.
(David Nissman)
TURKISH TRADE FAIR OPENS IN BAGHDAD. More than 150
Turkish firms will take part in a Turkish Trade Fair
in Baghdad beginning on 7 May, the Turkish Embassy in
Iraq announced on 3 May. The companies taking part in
the fair plan to sign contracts under the terms of the
United Nations' oil for food program. Kursad Tuzman,
the trade officer at the embassy, said in March that
Ankara wants to boost bilateral trade to pre-1990
levels of more than $2.5 billion annually, up from the
current $800 million. (David Nissman)
BELARUS TO SIGN DIRECT AIR AGREEMENT WITH IRAQ. Vladimir
Zametalin, an aide to Belarusian leader Alyaksandr
Lukashenka, visited Baghdad to sign an agreement setting up
a direct Minsk-Baghdad plane route, Baghdad Radio reported
on 26 April. (David Nissman)
SADDAM, SYRIAN PRESIDENT CALL FOR CLOSER TIES. An exchange
of letters between Iraqi leader Saddam Husseyn and Syrian
President Bashar Asad sets the stage for expanded
cooperation, Radio Monte Carlo reported on 2 May.
Meanwhile, newspapers in both capitals pointed to upcoming
exchanges of visits and expanded trade. Meanwhile, Syrian
Oil Minister Mahir Jamal told London's "Al-Hayat" on 26
April that Damascus is planning to build new pipelines from
the Iraqi border to the Syrian port of Banyas. He added
that the Syrian side would carry out the contracting for
this project during the next months and that it will be
concluded in 36 months. (David Nissman)
PUK, TURKMEN, AND ASSYRIAN MOVEMENTS COOPERATING. Jalal
Talabani told a visiting Turkmen Front delegation at the
PUK Political Bureau headquarters in Qara Cholan that the
two groups face a common threat from Baghdad and thus must
work together, according the Sulaymaniyah newspaper
"Kurdistani Nuwe" of 24 April. Meanwhile, Turkmen Front
officials have also been visiting with other political
parties and movements in northern Iraq: the Turkmen Front's
liaison bureau in Dohuk met with the Assyrian National
Party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement and the Bet Nahrain
Democratic Party in Dohuk on 11 April, and again on 15
April, a delegation of the Political Bureau of the Turkoman
National Party visited the headquarters of the Assyrian
Democratic Movement and the Bet Nahrain Democratic Party.
And, at the invitation of the command of the Peace
Monitoring Force (PMF), the Assyrian Democratic Movement
delegates joined representatives of the PUK, the KDP, and
the Turkmen Front at a banquet in Irbil, "Zinda" reported
on 24 April. (David Nissman)
BARZANI VISIT TO TURKEY AGAIN DELAYED. The visit of Masud
Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP),
planned for late April, has been delayed unto 6-7 May,
ostensibly due to the intensive program of Turkish Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit, according to the "Turkish Daily
News" of 26 April. Safin Diza'i, Ankara representative of
the KDP, said that "During the previous five meetings
between Barzani and Turkish officials, security matters and
the terrorist threat dominated the talks. But now the
number of PKK members has decreased to 600-700 from 4,000
in northern Iraq and they are locked in the Behdinan area."
He stressed that not a single PKK camp remains in the
region that is controlled by the KDP. (David Nissman)
KRG URGES HOLLAND, SWEDEN TO REVERSE DEPORTATION ORDERS. In
a statement carried by the "Kurdistan Observer" on 26
April, the Kurdistan Regional Government called on Holland
and Sweden to review and reverse their recent decisions to
expel Kurds who had fled to those countries. The KRG said
that it cannot provide any of those who returned with
either jobs or housing. (David Nissman)
BAGHDAD BLAMED FOR AL-SULAYMANIYAH EXPLOSION. Citing Iraqi
Kurdish sources, London's "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" reported on
25 April that the Iraqi secret services were responsible
for the 24 April explosion of a bomb near relief work
headquarters in Al-Sulaymaniyah in PUK-controlled Iraqi
Kurdistan. (David Nissman)
PUK'S TALABANI PROMISES CONCESSIONS FOR PEACE. Jalal
Talabani, the PUK leader, said that he is prepared to make
"all kinds of sacrifices" and concessions" to reach a peace
accord with the KDP. "Peace is vital for the people of
Kurdistan, especially at this stage and in this year, in
which new international policies might come into force and
this will definitely affect the way we live and the
progress of our movement," Talabani said. (David Nissman)
WASHINGTON AGREEMENT AFTER SEVEN YEARS. In an essay in the
"Kurdistan Observer" on 1 May to mark the seventh
anniversary of the Washington agreement, Mahmud Osman, a
leading analyst of Kurdish affairs, said that the accord's
greatest shortcoming remains that none of its main
provisions have been implemented. Osman calls for the
demilitarization of cities and the formation of a united
police force in the Kurdish regions of Iraq in order to
uphold the rule of law would be an important step toward
implementation of the agreement. (David Nissman)
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