US opposes lifting of Iraq sanctions
Iraq-USA, Politics, 4/24/1998

The United Nations will hold its six-month review of economic sanctions against Iraq on Monday, with the US still unconvinced that the measures should be lifted.

Iraq on Thursday submitted a document to the UN calling for the lifting of sanctions, Fox News reported. Although a larger oil-for-food agreement was approved by the UN, many mass funerals for Iraqi children who are said to be victims of inadequate food and medical supplies due to the sanctions have been held in Baghdad.

US officials, however, said that it is not yet time to lift the sanctions against Iraq.

White House spokesman Mike McCurry said, "We have seen insufficient grounds to lift all of the UN Security Council Resolution 687 sanctions that are in place. There needs to be further compliance by the government of Iraq with a whole host of post-Gulf War requirements that have been placed upon Iraq by the international community."

State Department spokesman James Rubin also said Iraq has not done enough to call for the lifting of sanctions, saying, " I can't imagine, based on the report that Chairman Butler has provided, that any country in the Security Council - any country would be advocating a suspension of any part of the sanctions regime."

"Saddam Hussein will not come forward and positively provide to the United Nations what he produced, and what he did with what he produced, and eliminate the huge discrepancy between what the UN can confirm was destroyed and what the UN knows has been imported. That is what this crisis is about; and so long as he refuses to do so, we will hold the line in preventing any adjustment in the sanctions policy," Rubin said.

Rubin also noted that US troops remain in the region; however, Rubin refused to speculate on what might trigger a strike against Iraq, while maintaining "The United States remains willing to use all appropriate means to secure Iraqi compliance."

However, Rubin drew a distinction between the earlier crisis, during which the US and the current situation, "The refusal of Saddam Hussein to even allow the inspectors to do their work, to allow them access to these presidential complexes, and to threaten to kick them out on the one hand; and on the other hand, the fact that his failure to positively provide information, material and analysis that proves what they do or don't have, is non-compliance of a different type."

Recent UN report from UNSCOM chairman Richard Butler said that weapons inspectors made little progress during the recent crisis between the UN and Iraq. Iraq was highly critical of Butler's negative report.

Previous Stories:
  Iraq accuses Kuwait of using war prisoner's issue for politics   (4/23/1998)
  Iraq for open or secret dialogue with Washington   (4/22/1998)
  Iraq's FM meets Moussa, pleads for Arab help to lift sanctions   (4/20/1998)

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