PRESS BRIEFING BY IRAQ SANCTIONS COMMITTEE
Press Briefing
PRESS BRIEFING BY IRAQ SANCTIONS COMMITTEE
19970425
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
At Headquarters Thursday afternoon, Ana Gomes briefed correspondents on behalf of the Chairman of the Iraq Sanctions Committee, Antonio Monteiro (Portugal). The Committee was established by Security Council resolution 661 (1990).
Ms. Gomes said Iraqi pilgrimage flights had been the main issue on the Committee's agenda yesterday. The Chairman, who is also the current President of the Security Council, had proposed that it defer discussions on the matter, recalling the Security Council presidential statement of 16 April on the pilgrimage flight from Baghdad to Jedda and the difficulty of getting a clear view on the issue. The Committee then decided to hold informal discussions, at an expert level, on its future role regarding humanitarian flights, with the understanding that the Committee was not supposed to discuss the particular flight dealt with in the presidential statement.
Most of the other agenda items were not new, Ms. Gomes continued, and the Committee had decided to defer discussions on some, including a request by Turkey on the resumption of imports of petroleum and petroleum products from Iraq. The Committee was considering a list of equipment for the first repair of the Kirkuk Yumurtalik pipeline, she added.
The Committee decided to wait for more information before acting on a World Health Organization (WHO) request regarding medical evacuation flights from Iraq, Ms. Gomes said. The Committee felt that it had dealt with the request for such flights very promptly, on a case-by-case basis, and that there had not been enough cases to warrant the establishment of the type of system requested by the WHO. However, the Committee was willing to consider the request, pending further information from the WHO that would demonstrate such a need.
She said the Committee would also wait for more information before dealing with a request by Germany regarding the importation of 1.7 metric tons of Iraqi dinars, which had been seized by the Government of Switzerland. According to German law, the currency was not merchandise and, therefore, would not be prohibited. The Committee wanted to know how the dinars got out of Iraq, she added.
In reply to several questions from correspondents, Ms. Gomes said the 200 million dinars were bills printed between 1994 and 1995. A German national was seeking permission to import the dinars and the German Government wanted to know the Committee's view on the matter. She said correspondents could seek further clarification from the German Mission to the United Nations.
Turning to other matters, Ms. Gomes said there was also a request from Bulgaria for clarification on Council resolution 687 (1990) regarding the debts and obligations of Iraq before the Gulf War, in other words prior to 2 August 1990. The Committee decided to reply in a letter to Bulgaria that, according to the current resolutions, those Iraqi debts were standing and Bulgaria was entitled to recover payment. The Committee was not asked how or when the payments should be made and there was no quantification of the debts, she added.
The Committee also approved, in general, a project to rehabilitate water supply facilities in the Basrah governorates, Ms. Gomes continued. The project would supply humanitarian assistance to 1.4 million people and would be financed jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Department of Humanitarian Affairs and the Iraqi Government. The bulk of the financing would come from Iraqi frozen assets released by the International Bank of Settlements. Some clarification, namely from the controllers, would be needed regarding the banking operations. The project would be executed and supervised by the United Nations. As yet, no figures for the project were available and quantification might depend on the list of spare parts and materials needed. Normally, they would not be established prior to general approval for the project.
Ms. Gomes then gave the latest statistical data concerning oil contracts and humanitarian supplies permitted under Security Council resolution 986 (1995). Out of 51 requests for oil contracts, 50 contracts worth $2.14 billion had been approved (the excess was due to pipeline fees) and one contract was pending.
She said that out of 498 applications for contracts for humanitarian supplies received by the secretariat, 217 had been submitted to the Committee. Of those, 122 had been approved, with an approximate value of $445 million, 65 contracts were on hold, 7 were blocked and 21 were pending. The money that had been put aside to cover the blocked contracts could now be directed to cover other contracts to be submitted by Iraq, she added.
In reply to a question from a correspondent, Ms. Gomes said the Iraqi dinars seized by Swiss authorities were owned by a Jordanian citizen and a German national was interested in purchasing the bills. The Swiss authorities had not allowed the dinars to be imported into Switzerland, but had authorized their return to Jordan. The German Government had written to the Committee on 27 March asking whether it should allow the importation of the dinars, given its law that the currency was not classified as goods and, therefore, might not come under Council sanctions. The Committee wanted more information before ruling on the matter.
A correspondent asked for details regarding the ruling on humanitarian flights. Ms. Gomes said the Committee had not been asked for a blanket decision on such flights, but there would be an informal discussion on the way
Iraq Sanctions Briefing - 3 - 25 April 1997
it should act in the future. Some delegations and the Chairman felt the discussions were needed because there seemed to be different views among Committee members on how to act in the future. Members also wanted to discuss Committee practice and whether it needed to be changed.
Given the German request, was it possible that Iraq would be able to export currency legally? a correspondent asked. Ms. Gomes said the Committee had not dealt with such a case before and, therefore, it wanted more information. Iraqi nationals were not involved in the transaction.
In response to another question on the practice regarding humanitarian flights, Ms. Gomes said the law was determined by relevant Council resolutions and no one was seeking to change or amend them. The question was how would the Committee act in the future regarding flights of a humanitarian nature, given that it had a practice which had never been questioned? Recent discussions had revealed different views among Committee members about how to implement the practice and whether it was in agreement with existing resolutions. The Committee felt that, given the humanitarian nature of the flights, it should be clear about how to act. However, no discussions had taken place.
A correspondent asked whether the United Nations Legal Counsel would rule if there were different views. Ms. Gomes said that the last time the Committee met, the United Nations Legal Counsel had pointed out that when deciding on the right stance regarding a particular humanitarian flight, it should examine the text of the resolutions. If they were not clear, it should take into consideration Committee practice.
In the past, there had been letters to the Committee from India and Pakistan allowing flights of Muslims to Iraq for pilgrimage, a correspondent said. Would that also come under the blanket decision? Ms. Gomes said the Committee would not be discussing pilgrimage flights, but rather how to deal with humanitarian flights that might be made for religious or other purposes.
A correspondent asked for more information on the blocked contracts. Ms. Gomes said it was the first time contracts had been blocked and it was because of the nature of the products and their eventual use. Each Committee member was entitled to put on hold, or block, contracts, for products that they believed would not alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people. Many contracts, which were on hold pending further clarification about their purpose, might have been blocked once that information became available. Also, as money to pay for contracts on hold is frozen, the Iraqi Government might have decided to drop those that were creating difficulties, in order to free the money for other contracts, she added.
* *** *