From: "Voices in the Wilderness" <•••@••.•••> Subject: Third U.N. official in Iraq to resign in protest! Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:00:09 -0600 Hello Friends-- By now, most of you may have heard about the great success of yesterday's demonstration at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Between 250-300 attended the demonstration and 86 were arrested and reporters from Time magazine, CNN, AP, Fox, ABC, and UPI were on hand to cover the events. Below you'll find links to the media coverage. Many of the reports of the protest piggy-backed news that the top United Nations official in Iraq, Hans Von Sponeck, decided to resign. Mr. von Sponeck is the second Humanitarian Cordinator in Iraq to resign in protest of the sanctions (Denis Halliday was the first). Now we have gotten word that Jutta Burghardt, the head of the U.N.'s World Food Program in Iraq has just resigned her post, also in protest. We are asking.....actually, begging you to take this rare and important opportunity to write and call your local newspaper editors or any reporters you think would write an article or op-ed about this story. Give them our office number (773-784-8065) and we can supply updated information on the resignations. Links to the AP and Reuters reports on the resignations are also listed below. Please help us assure that this story is not ignored. Grass roots efforts helped publicize Dennis Halliday's resignation and enabled him to speak out against the sanctions across the US and Europe. We're not sure how much speaking Mr. von Sponeck and Dr. Burghardt will be prepared to undertake, but it seems wise to encourage US Congresspeople to seek hearings and invite testimony from each of these courageous diplomats. Should you find that the links below aren't helpful, let us know and we'll send you the actual text of these any documents you can use. Let us know also what successes you have. Thank you and Good luck! Jeff Guntzel and Kathy Kelly, for Voices in the Wilderness Links: AP coverage of Monday's protests at the UN and von Sponeck's resognation: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-UN-Iraq-Sanctions.html AP report on Hans von Sponeck from 1-13-99: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000213/wl/iraq_un_9.html Backround on Hans von Sponeck from our website: http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/80.htm AP on the resignation of Jutta Burghardt of the WFP: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000215/wl/iraq_un_10.html Reuters on the Resignation of Jutta Burghardt of the WFP: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000215/wl/iraq_un_5.html *********************************************************** Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:36:57 -0330 (NST) To: •••@••.••• From: jan m <•••@••.•••> Subject: Von Sponek to leave post as humanitarian coordinator forwarded message ------> Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 08:25:20 -0500 From: Bill Thomson <•••@••.•••> Subject: Von Sponek to leave post as humanitarian coordinator FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14 2000 Voices in the Wilderness: 202-258-4958 (cell phone) Fellowship of Reconciliation: 914-358-4601 U.N. official critical of Iraqi sanctions may leave job in April February 11, 2000 UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- The senior U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Baghdad, who has run afoul of the United States and Britain, is expected to leave his post in early April, sources at the United Nations said on Friday. Hans von Sponeck, a German career U.N. official, has recently spoken out more forcefully against 9-year-old sanctions imposed against Iraq and said the U.N. oil-for-food program he heads was not meeting minimum requirements to ease the impact of the embargoes. He will return to New York for consultations at the end of March and then go back to Baghdad briefly before leaving his post, the sources said. U.N. spokesman John Mills refused to comment but said the New York visit had been scheduled as early as last November. Asked about von Sponeck's expected departure, U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said: "Good." "I think an article in the Iraqi press praising his approach to his work is ample evidence of his unsuitability of this post," Rubin said. "His job is to work on behalf of Iraqi people and not the regime and we look forward to an able manager who will maximize the benefits of the oil-for-food programme," he added. On Friday, the Iraqi newspaper, al-Tharwa, said von Sponeck's analysis was based on facts and figures. "He did not publish personal viewpoints irrelevant to his job when he talked about the deterioration of the health or food situation in Iraq," it said. Von Sponeck, was appointed to the post on Oct. 26, 1998, the fifth humanitarian coordinator in Baghdad for the programme that allows Baghdad to sell oil and purchase food, medicine and other goods under tight supervision. In November, Secretary-General Kofi Annan extended his term to April 25 rather than for a year as some expected but he refused to release him immediately as Washington had wanted. Von Sponeck had been told at the time to curb his public statements. But he resumed interviews with German and U.S. media this month, an indication he planned to leave his job. His predecessor, Denis Halliday of Ireland, voiced similar criticism about the impoverishment of ordinary Iraqis while the leadership grew rich under the U.N. sanctions, imposed in August 1990 when Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait. U.S. officials last year accused von Sponeck of siding with Iraq in a propaganda battle over who is to blame for the suffering of the Iraqi people: the West, for imposing harsh economic sanctions, or Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, for failing to comply with terms for lifting those sanctions. Von Sponeck had also complained that the oil-for-food programme suffered because of the holds placed on Iraqi imports. The United States has frozen 1,000 contracts, a situation criticized by nearly all U.N. officials and diplomats. Britain runs a low second with about 120 contracts on hold. ************************************ William J. (Bill) Thomson, Ph.D. (•••@••.•••) ************************************ ******************************************************************** * •••@••.••• * * List serve for Student Committee of the Iraq Action Coalition. * * To subscribe, send this message: subscribe stu-cmte-iac * to this address: •••@••.••• * * To unsubscribe, send this message: unsubscribe stu-cmte-iac * to this address: •••@••.••• * * Visit our website: http://iraqaction.org/students.html * * Send for your campus start up kit * by sending a message to: •••@••.••• *********************************************************************
