Excerpts from previous political updates, by subject:

5-14-01

Review of US policy on Iraq

The Bush Administration, still in the process of reassessing U.S. policy toward Iraq, hopes to announce its new stance on sanctions in early June, before the UN Security Council votes to renew Iraq's oil-for-food program. Meanwhile, the top two US military commanders in Europe are recommending that the number of flights enforcing the "no-fly" zones in Iraq be reduced due to the increasing odds that a plane might be shot down. Iraq has hailed this development as a sign its air defenses are working to force America to retreat. And while Bush's team formulates its new policy, press reports point to an increase in oil smuggling.

More oil smuggling and uncontrolled revenues

Secretary of State Colin Powell announced in February 2001 that he had received Syria's assurance that any revenues from the pipeline would go into the UN escrow account. Syria, however, does not seem to have confirmed Powell's stance publicly and has taken no action. And there are more recent reports that quote the Syrian oil minister as saying that a second oil pipeline between Iraq and Syria is planned, with a contract to be granted in the "coming months." The United States publically threatened to oppose Syrian membership in the UN Security Council if it continued to import Iraqi oil outside the UN sanctions system.

To try to stem the growing flow of illegal Iraqi oil, the United Nations recently [prior to May 2001] announced a new policy to prevent the diversion of oil shipments. It calls for the masters of vessels shipping Iraqi oil to sign a letter specifying the destination. The shipping company will then be held responsible for any diversion from the destination authorized in the contract.

The sanctions standoff

France, like Russia, has called for the abandonment of sanctions. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said in March 2001 that sanctions on Iraq should be replaced with a "policy of international vigilance and international control." In the past, Minister Vedrine has condemned US and British air strikes on Iraq as "useless and incomprehensible," and the sanctions as "cruel, inefficient and dangerous."

Early in May 2001, Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, warned its neighboring states - who are integral to any new US policy on Iraq - that to cooperate with Washington's new policy of "smart sanctions" would "cause enormous losses for countries dealing with Iraq" and that these states would "lose their economic and trade advantages." Iraq has also been pushing Russian and Chinese companies to depart from U.N. sanctions by working to develop Iraqi oil fields. Iraqi officials have hinted that if Russia and China do not cooperate, the fields could be given to someone else to develop.