Iraq: Lifting UN sanctions is a legitimate right
Iraqi Trade Minister Muhammad Mahdi Saleh on Thursday said Iraq has signed contracts to import foodstuffs from Iran and is preparing to sign similar contracts with Saudi Arabia according to the oil-for-food accord.
The Iraqi minister said an Iraqi delegation concluded a visit to Iran during which trade contracts were endorsed to deliver foodstuffs to Iraq, adding that Iraq is preparing now to sign contracts with Saudi companies to import items listed in the memorandum of understanding, noting similar contracts signed with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.
The Iraqi minister stated that the third phase of the oil-for-food accord, valid from December 1997, will increase the volume of Iraq's imports from Egypt, Syria, Jordan the Arab Maghreb states and other Arab countries.
Meanwhile, the London-based al-Hayat daily said on Thursday that in a meeting with Arab ambassadors, including the ambassador of Kuwait, Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Saeed al-Sahaf renewed in New York his country's readiness to cooperate with the UN in eliminating weapons.
The paper added quoting participants in the meeting that the meeting was held in New York at the headquarters of the Arab League, attended by the Arab ambassadors to the UN and for the first time the Kuwaiti ambassador Muhammad Abu al-Hassan. Al-Hayat added that al-Sahaf, accompanied by Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Muhammad Rashid, headed for New York where the UN Security council on April 27 will meet to review sanctions imposed on Iraq since August 1990.
The paper continued that al-Sahaf has asserted to the Arab ambassadors that Iraq is committed to the memorandum of understanding it signed with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, including additional inspection operations at the Iraqi presidential palaces.
On Thursday Iraq renewed its accusations against UNSCOM director Richard Butler, accusing him of attempting to delay the process of lifting the embargo imposed on Iraq.
The Iraqi Cabinet stressed that a recent report Butler submitted to the UN Security Council was an attempt to get the Security Council and the world's public opinion involved rather than enabling Iraq to reach its legitimate objective of lifting the sanctions.
In a statement, the Iraqi Cabinet noted: "There are now two options before the world: either to lift the embargo or to perpetuate it." The statement denounced the US attempts to perpetuate the sanctions.
On Wednesday US ambassador at the UN Bill Richardson said that his country is strongly determined to enforce sanctions on Iraq during the discussions to be made by the UN Security Council, despite the progress recorded in enabling UNSCOM experts to gain access to Iraqi sites.