Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah Al Khatib will arrive in Ankara on Thursday for a day of consultations with Turkish leaders on the so-called "smart sanctions" against Iraq, and the mounting conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, reported Turkish Daily News.
The "smart santions" have been proposed by the Britain, and backed by the United States.
The Jordanian minister will meet with Turkish leaders including President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.
Iraq has threatened to cut off oil supplies to the two countries if they support the new proposal, which Baghdad sees as violating its sovereignty.
Jordan and Turkey are the two countries that have suffered most during the international sanctions on Iraq, and thus want the restrictions lifted.
The "smart sanctions" would lift controls on civilian imports, while still restricting military-related materials.
The new measures aim to allow all goods to be imported to Iraq, from bicycles to Mercedes-Benz cars, except for those on a list that council members must review. Currently, any individual council member can halt particular imports, except for food and medicine and some other supplies on a "fast-track" list.
Military supplies would still be banned outright and "dual-use" items that could have both civilian and military applications would require specific authorization from council members.
But the United Nations would still control the bulk of Iraq's oil revenue, which is deposited in an existing escrow account. Suppliers of goods that Iraq orders are paid through the account. Iraq opposes this and threatens to halt all oil exports.
According to the paper, the measures also include an attempt to get the so-called "illegal trade" between Iraq's neighbors under some control. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to make proposals toward this end.
So far, Syria, Jordan and Turkey have not yet pledged to cooperate in monitoring borders. Sources say this issue will also be taken up at the Thursday consultations.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said his country would not sell any oil through the UN oil-for-food program if the United Nations adopted the British proposal, according to an Iraqi state-run newspaper on Wednesday.
The proposed plan, already rejected by President Saddam Hussein, is "a big lie," Aziz was quoted as saying.
"Not a single barrel of oil will be sold through the program if the Security Council adopts the draft resolution with the American elements and American ideas recommended," Aziz told foreign diplomats in Baghdad on Tuesday night. His comments were reported in Al Thawra daily, cited by the Associated Press.
Iraq produces 3 million barrels of oil a day and has said it would like to increase the figure to 3.5 billion. But it said the UN sanctions committee had been holding up many of the spare parts and pieces of equipment it needs to raise production. In the past year, Iraq exported about 1 million to 2 million barrels of oil a day – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
