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To: sciAticA errAticA who wrote (31756)	4/17/2003 4:45:43 PM
From: sciAticA errAticA	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

Bush call to lift sanctions on Iraq leaves EU cold A United States call to lift United Nations sanctions on Iraq drew cool reactions on Thursday, including a Russian warning against the plan. Diplomats warned that securing an accord may be difficult. European Union leaders urged the US to let the United Nations and EU help rebuild Iraq. The leaders, eager to bring international organisations back into play in the Iraq crisis called for "a central role" for the UN and a significant EU part in reconstruction that Washington is determined to dominate. Moscow, a fierce opponent of the US-led war, said the US suggestion appeared “mercenary”. French President Jacques Chirac, who also opposed the war, insisted that the United Nations must decide exactly how sanctions on Iraq should be lifted, after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's government. French President Jacques Chirac (L) shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in Athens on Thursday The two-day informal EU summit in Athens, meant to welcome 10 new members to the bloc, sought ways to work with the United States now that the fighting has passed. Anti-war states France and Germany said they were ready to be pragmatic. In general, the EU and its leaders gave a cautious welcome to the Bush suggestion of lifting sanctions on Iraq, but their comments were littered with words like "conditions" and "modalities", codewords that signalled there would be no simple wave of the pen to end the 13-year-old sanctions. The European Union's Greek presidency said the sanctions should be lifted once the situation had "normalized" on the ground. "Obviously, the embargo has to be lifted," Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis told reporters after two days of EU meetings in Athens. But before this happens he said there has to be a "general normalisation" on the ground. But in Moscow a foreign ministry official said Russia will oppose the proposal until UN inspectors confirm the country has no weapons of mass destruction. "Regime change in Baghdad is not a condition for lifting economic sanctions on Iraq," the official said on condition of anonymity. Some pointed out that it will be difficult to fully lift the sanctions until a new and internationally recognised government takes control over Iraq. "We should determine just what the United State is after -- something seems wrong, the approach is too mercenary," he said. Chirac, speaking in the sidelines of an EU summit in Athens, also reiterated his desire to proceed "pragmatically" now the war is all but over. "Faithful to its principles, France will naturally broach these questions in a pragmatic manner, case by case," he said, adding that he had discussed the issues with United Nations chief Kofi Annan. Asked how France expected to work with the US and British forces in Iraq, Chirac replied "in the way which will be defined by the UN." On the issue of lifting sanctions, one diplomat warned, “This issue could prove very divisive right now. If you lift sanctions you lift the control of the United Nations in what is going on in Iraq." The sanctions are the main leverage that Security Council members, including anti-war France, Germany and Russia, have to persuade Washington to give the UN a political role in turning shattered Iraq into a prospering democracy. Analysts say Washington wants to lift the sanctions quickly so Iraq can sell oil and pay for reconstruction, but UN resolutions say this depends on the world body certifying that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction. --- Al Jazeera with agency inputs english.aljazeera.net

To: sciAticA errAticA who wrote (31756)	4/18/2003 10:05:58 AM
From: sciAticA errAticA	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

Tens of thousands in Baghdad call for US withdrawal Tens of thousands of demonstrators in Baghdad protested against the United States presence in Iraq on Friday, following Friday prayers. Tens of thousands of Iraqis demonstrated following Friday prayers Waving banners in English and Arabic reading “Leave our country, we want peace,” protestors outside of the Abu Hanifa Al-Numan Mosque chanted “No to America, no to Saddam” and “This homeland is for the Shia and Sunni,” in a sign of unity among the two groups. The majority of Iraq’s 25-million strong population is 60 percent Shia, which had been ruled ruthlessly under Saddam Hussein’s mostly Sunni elitist regime. In recent days there has been mounting discontent from among the Shia to Washington’s presence in Iraq. Protestors called for unity among Iraqis and urged all to put aside past conflicts and differences. Al-Jazeera TV correspondent Youseff Al-Shouly reported it was the first non-state organized protest in the Iraqi capital in decades, describing it as a significant development. In the first Friday prayers since US tanks rolled into the heart of Baghdad last week, Imam Ahmad Al-Kubaisi said in his sermon the United States invaded Iraq to defend Israel and denied that Iraqi possessed weapons of mass destruction. --Al Jazeera April 18, 2003 english.aljazeera.net