PRESS CONFERENCE BY CHAIRMAN OF SANCTIONS COMMITTEE

4 December 1996

Press Briefing

19961204 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

The Chairman of the Iraq Sanctions Committee, Tono Eitel (Germany), briefed correspondents at a press conference yesterday evening, on the 145th meeting of the Sanctions Committee (established pursuant to Security Council resolution 661 (1990)), including a report by the Secretariat on the present status of the "oil-for-food formula" as contained in resolution 986 (1995).

[Resolution 986 authorizes States to permit the import of up to $1 billion of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products every 90 days to meet the Iraqis' humanitarian needs. It also asks the Sanctions Committee to develop expedited procedures for its implementation.] Regarding "oil-for-food" -- the third item on the Committee's 16-item agenda -- Mr. Eitel said "as far as oil is concerned, Saybolt, the Dutch company, would be able to mobilize it on a five-day notice". Last Friday, Saybolt had been given notice that it may soon begin. Oil experts from Saybolt would be heading to the metering station at Zakho, on the Iraqi-Turkish border, to check it and would report on their findings promptly. "It was my understanding that nobody expected that a greater delay would be caused by the state of the metering station", Mr. Eitel added.

Work related to the humanitarian side of the "oil-for-food" formula was being done in the Secretariat so that once Council resolution 986 (1995) became operative, the applications for selling goods would be dealt with speedily, the Chairman said. However, no application to sell such goods had been received as yet. With regard to the escrow account -- already opened -- an Iraqi Bank expert had been present in order to prepare the Iraqi side of that account. When the Secretariat had been asked when the report of the Secretary-General would be ready, it had responded in a vague manner by saying that it would be soon or that it would not take long. However, "it is my personal feeling from what I hear in the corridors, unofficially, that we have a fair chance that we will get this report by mid-December", he added.

The fourth item on the Committee's agenda was a note from Turkey about the resumption of importation of petroleum and petroleum products from Iraq, Mr. Eitel continued. That matter had been postponed until the Committee members "would see how 986 worked", he continued. However, one delegation had pointed out that Turkey had not only referred to Council resolution 986, but to Article 50 of the Charter which envisaged help given to countries suffering from sanctions imposed on other countries with whom they normally had trade.

Eitel Press Conference - 2 - 4 December 1996

[Article 50 of the Charter states: "If preventive enforcement measures against any State are taken by the Security Council, any other State, whether a Member of the United Nations or not, which finds itself confronted with special economic problems arising from the carrying out of those measures, shall have the right to consult the Security Council with regard to a solution of those problems."]

Mr. Eitel said that agenda item five was a letter from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), together with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Both wanted to implement a project in which they would strengthen seed quality control in Iraq. The project had not yet been accepted by all delegations. One delegation had put the matter on hold, but was hopeful that it could soon report to the Secretariat and approve the project. "I am personally confident that we might get the missing approval soon", the Chairman added.

The next agenda item before the Committee was a letter from Iraq which indicated that country's satisfaction at being allowed to export up to $1 billion in petroleum and petroleum products every 90 days. However, it also indicated Iraq's wish to sell additional oil in order to cover the costs of the production and transportation of that $1 billion in oil. "They don't want the costs of transportation and production to come from within that $1 billion but from without", he said. Since this matter had been a difficult one, the opinion of the Legal Counsel had been requested. On the basis of that opinion, however, a negative reply on the matter had been given.

Agenda item seven was a letter from Jordan dealing with an Iraqi aircraft said to be -- since the Gulf War -- somewhere in Jordan, Mr. Eitel said. "Some questions will be put to Jordan before the Committee takes a decision on that matter", he added.

The next two agenda items had been dealt with together, the Chairman said. Both items referred to letters from Turkey asking for permission to ship spare parts and equipment to Iraq for the repair of the Kirkuk-Yumartalik pipeline. One letter referred to spare parts and equipment needs in the short term and the other one in the long term. "It is to be foreseen that once the pipeline works, some repair would be immediately necessary", he said. The Committee had decided to approve the short-term request, but had decided to deal with the long-term request once Council resolution 986 was in operation.

The Committee then considered information from a Jordanian colleague stating that a Jordanian company had been suspected of being involved in the production of Iraqi missiles or the production of weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Eitel said. The company had been searched and investigated by the United Nations Special Commission -- set up under Security Council resolution 687 (1991) in connection with the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (UNSCOM) -- and nothing had been found. The Jordanian colleague had wanted the Committee to take note of that, the Chairman added.

Eitel Press Conference - 3 - 4 December 1996

Next on its agenda, he said the Committee dealt with two letters from the United States regarding alleged violations of the Iraqi sanctions system by a coastal State of the Persian Gulf. "Months ago, I had spoken with the representative of that country here", he went on. Today, he had received a paper from him which had been later distributed in the Committee. "We will write a letter to that colleague asking him to encourage his Government to increase its efforts to prevent trafficking through its territorial waters", he added.

Agenda item 12 dealt with four Iraqi vessels -- two tankers and two ships -- which where in two different ports somewhere in Africa, Mr. Eitel said. A company was interested in salvaging those ships, but before that, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was surveying them in order to find out to what extent they were hazardous to the environment. The Committee would decide on that matter once it had information on that survey.

The next three agenda items were routine matters -- letters from Jordan, dealing with the trafficking of food and medicines over the Jordanian-Iraqi border, Mr. Eitel said. They also had to do with reports on cargo examination and verification in the Jordanian port at Aqaba.

A correspondent asked whether Iraq had detailed the costs of transportation and production that it hoped to recuperate. Mr. Eitel replied that the amount was between $10 and $20 million.

In reply to a question whether such costs had to do with the pipeline tariff charges, Mr. Eitel said that they did not. The transportation and production costs were separate.

What was the value of the spare parts that Turkey was intending to sell to Iraq? another correspondent asked. Mr. Eitel replied that he did not have such information.

Asked how the Sanctions Committee was dealing with the smuggling going on in coastal state waters, Mr. Eitel replied that the Committee would write a letter in that regard in the hope that it would have a positive effect.

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