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To: Broken_Clock who wrote (27129)	8/5/1998 4:18:00 PM
From: Captain James T. Kirk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Wednesday August 5 3:56 PM EDT Iraq halts U.N. inspections, sets conditions By Hassan Hafidh BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Wednesday it would stop cooperating with United Nations inspectors until the international body which monitors its weapons was radically reformed to free it from direct United States influence. "Iraq completely suspends its cooperation with the U.N. Special Commission within its current setup and the International Atomic Energy Agency," said a statement released after a meeting of Iraqi leaders chaired by President Saddam Hussein. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz sent letters to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and head of the Security Council informing them of the Iraqi decision. Earlier, Iraq's parliament had voted unanimously for a freeze in the work of the U.N. arms inspectors, deepening the latest dispute over its alleged weapons of mass destruction. In Washington, the White House said it would continue to pressure Iraq to comply with the U.N. inspectors and was waiting to assess their "actions, not their words." Iraq said it wanted the U.N. special Commission (UNSCOM) carrying out the weapons inspections to be led by a new executive which would "equally represent" all nations which were members of the U.N. Security Council. UNSCOM's headquarters should also be moved to Geneva or Vienna from New York, to ensure that it was "far" from direct U.S. influence, said the statement released after a meeting of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council and the ruling Baath Party. But Baghdad said that as an expression of goodwill, it would allow the United Nations to continue limited weapons monitoring in the country through surveillance cameras installed for that purpose -- provided Iraq's sovereignty was not violated. The statement also called for an immediate lifting of the sanctions imposed as punishment for Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Under the terms laid down after Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, the sanctions cannot be lifted until UNSCOM decides that the country is free of all three types of weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear, chemical and biological. UNSCOM says Iraq has yet to come clean on its weapons, but chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler said on Wednesday he was "mystified" at Baghdad's action when a resolution of several key issues was so close. "We were getting there," he said after arriving in New York from Baghdad. "If this was a five-lap race, we were halfway into the fifth lap. Why stop the race when you're getting toward the finish line? I don't know." But he noted that Iraqi compliance in the area of biological weapons was "in bad shape." Butler cut short a visit to Baghdad when disarmament talks with top Iraqi officials broke down on Tuesday. In Baghdad, Iraqi parliamentary speaker Saadoun Hammadi accused U.N. weapon inspectors of dragging out their work in Iraq to suit a hostile American policy aimed at keeping U.N. sanctions in place. "The Special Commission is influenced by the United States of America and it has deliberately extended its work in order to serve American policy against Iraq," he said. Sahaf said: "The commission is trying to manufacture crises and provoke Iraq...with the aim of misleading the (U.N.) Security Council in order to prolong the embargo." Iraq denies possessing weapons of mass destruction. A similar crisis in February led to a massive U.S.-led military buildup in the Gulf in a bid to force Iraq into compliance. The threat of air strikes was averted by 11th hour diplomacy led by the U.N.'s Annan. Iraq told the Arab League and Egypt's foreign ministry on Wednesday it had lost patience with UNSCOM and wanted their help in lifting sanctions, League sources said. Butler said the latest stand-off should not be described as a crisis, but made clear there had been blunt talking at his meeting with Aziz, the Iraqi deputy prime minister. "He asked me to simply declare them clean (free of weapons of mass destruction), declare that it's over. And I said I can't do that without the evidence. I don't have a magic wand. It has to be based on evidence." Butler told the BBC he would brief Annan later on Wednesday before they report to the Security Council on Thursday morning. With Iraq obviously feeling "boxed in," it might be "smart" for the international community to dangle the prospect of an end to the sanctions that have crippled its economy, he said. But he said Iraq had only itself to blame, by prolonging the issue for seven years. ^REUTERS@

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (27129)	8/5/1998 4:29:00 PM
From: dealmakr	Respond to of 95453

Papaya, Just looking for a technical bounce and some showing of support. When I watch CNBC and everyone says don't buy energy or oil service, I got to think we are closing in on a trading bottom. IBD and WSJ have oil service on the bottom for worst performing. I also am trying to watch fund positions in some of the issues I follow, the wholesale selling regardless of price makes me want to know when some of these funds have finished. The bearish position of oversupply in the marketplace though will definatly have to be resolved in some way before a firm bottom can appear IMHO. Even though general market conditions haven't been good, I am watching for some volume reversals in this sector to maybe catch a trading bottom. Good Trading Dave