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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