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U.S. finds little support for sanctions plan against Iraq

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, June 8, 2001

WASHINGTON Ñ The Bush administration's strategy towards containing Iraq has received a cool reception from U.S. allies in the Middle East.

Arab and Turkish officials have told their U.S. counterparts that the administration's proposal for smart sanctions would only hurt Baghdad's neighbors, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the White House campaign to help the Iraqi opposition would end in disaster.

Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been discussing the need to contain Iraq in talks in Amman and Cairo. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been promoting the new Iraqi policy in talks this week in Ankara.

Turkish leaders were said to have dismissed the administration's approach. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Ankara has suffered enough from the United Nations sanctions on Baghdad.

Ecevit demanded that Washington confer with Ankara before any new sanctions policy is implemented and that Iraq not be divided into zones, including an independent Kurdish province in the north.

The prime minister was said to have poured cold water on the U.S. plan to organize an Iraqi opposition based in Kurdistan. "You had better establish a dialogue with Baghdad," Ecevit was quoted in the Turkish press as responding to Rumsfeld.

The United States wants to organize a coalition for smart sanctions by the time the Security Council meets in another 10 days. For his part, Rumsfeld said after his meeting with Turkish leaders that his discussions with them were excellent.

"They are very interested in missile defense, needless to say, living where they live and recognizing the significant growth in ballistic missiles in this part of the world," Rumsfeld said.

Friday, June 8, 2001

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