UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, February 12. 1997
9A
Oil smuggled out of Iraq in spite of U.N. sanctions
Embargo busters enticed by promise of contraband profit
The Associated Press
MANAMAH, Bahrain — Skirting the sandbars of Iran's Persian Gulf coast, tankers are smuggling tens of thousands of tons of fuel oil out of 'Iraq in violation of U.N. sanctions,' a
in violation of U.N. sanctions, a U.S. admiral said yesterday.
The Iran connection is one visible sign of cooperation between the two former enemies in trying to foil American efforts to enforce U.N. trade sanctions of Iraq.
But the main motive is money. Iraq, desperate to circumvent the embargo, will sell the oil cheap, and a 2,000-ton shipment of oil can net $150,000. Fargo estimated
"A protection fee is paid to the Iranians that guarantees them safe passage through territorial waters," the vice admiral said.
Crews of intercepted vessels tell investigators that Iranian authorities are taking a cut of the profits.
He said an Iranian Revolutionary Guard maritime station at the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway that separates Iran and Iraq appeared to
be the gatekeeper for the illicit shipments.
Even businessmen in one nation allied with the United States profit from the oil smuggling. Fargo said some smuggled diesel oil eventually is offloaded in the United Arab Emirates in the southern Persian Gulf.
The U.N. sanctions were imposed in 1990 to punish Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait and have been maintained because of Iraq's apparently continuing efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Since mid-December, however, an exception has been made for the sale of limited amounts of Iraqi petroleum, under U.N. supervision, to buy needed food and medicine.
As legitimate shipments have begun to leave Iraqi ports, the diesel smugglers have stepped up their work as well.
After picking up the fuel at ports on the Shatt, the ships hug the Iranian coast as they steam southward.
Both international law and treacherous coastal sandbars keep the deep-hulled U.S. destroyers on sanctions patrol out of Iran's 15-mile-wide territorial waters.
A watch officer aboard the destroyer USS Cushing, stealing in the northern Gulf, said crew members can detect the boats but cannot go after them.
On Feb. 4, Iran's interest in the trade became clear to destroyer crews when the USS Nicholson cut off and boarded a diesel smuggler in international waters, and an Iranian
"A protection fee is paid to the Iranians that guarantees them safe passage through territorial waters."
Vice Admiral Thomas B. Fargo
Commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet
patrol boat sped to the scene.
When the Cushing arrived to back up the Nicholson, the Iranian craft, armed with anti-ship missiles, began circling the U.S. warships. Their crews took up defensive positions on deck.
"It was hairy," a young Cushing officer recounted, speaking on condition he not be named. "One little Iranian gunboat had two $800 million destroyers totally tied up."
The incident ended peacefully, and the destroyers impounded the smuggler vessel after the Iranian boat left.
Hostage negotiations begin in Peru capital
Leaders are hopeful for peaceful solution
The Associated Press
LIMA, Peru — A rebel leader apparently left the besieged Japanese ambassador's house yesterday for the first time in nearly two months, traveling across the street to begin organized talks about Peru's hostage crisis.
The car drove into a garage, and the door closed behind it. It was impossible to see inside the car's finted windows.
Roli Rojas Fernandez, the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement's second-in-command, was believed to be in a white car with Red Cross markings that made the short ride from the compound to a two-story, bchre-colored house.
Members of special police units, dressed in black and armed with automatic weapons, were stationed close to one another along the street.
The government negotiator, Education Minister Domingo Palermo, was already at the house, as was Japan's official observer, Japanese ambassador to Mexico Terusuke Terada.
Also present were mediators Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani and Red Cross representative Michel Minnig. In a joint statement, they said they were hopeful that a peaceful solution may be reached as soon as possible with total respect for the life
and human dignity of all the hostages.
About 20 Tupac Amaru rebels stormed the ambassador's house on Dec.17, capturing hundreds of diplomats and other VIPs attending a cocktail party. They have since released all but 72.
Minnig and Cipriani, wearing his priestly vestments, entered the compound earlier in the day to meet with the rebels and celebrate Mass.
Yesterday's meeting was described as the beginning of preliminary talks that would lead to formal discussions aimed at solving the crisis.
President Alberto Fujimori, in London attending a forum about British investment in Latin America, was somewhat optimistic yesterday: "Even if we are not negotiating about releasing prisoners or paying a ransom, there is still room for working with the imagination and in that way we can find a solution."
But the rebels warned Monday that they had no plans to abandon their main demand that hundreds of their jailed comrades be released. Fujimori adamantly refuses to trade prisoners for hostages.
The Tupac Amaru rebels last met face-to-face with Palermo on Dec. 28, that time in the besieged compound. Talks have since stalled, and the sides have exchanged messages through intermediaries.
The talks were expected to focus on improving prison conditions for jailed Tupac Amaru members and the possibility of finding asylum in another country for the rebels holding the hostages.
73 injured while making attempts to scale pyramid
CAIRO, EGYPT — Many people have fallen while trying to climb the 450 foot Cheops Pyramid during the first two days of a Muslim holiday, the al-Akhbar daily newspaper reported yesterday.
Of 73 people injured Sunday and Monday, 22 were seriously hurt, the newspaper said.
Thousands of people flock to the Giza pyramids just outside of Cairo to celebrate the three-day Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr.
It is illegal to climb Cheops Pyramid, but police often cannot enforce the law on busy days.
Lawmaker, guard are killed during shooting in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA — Assailants shot and killed a ruling party lawmaker and a bodyguard yesterday and wounded another lawmaker in election-related violence in southern Sri Lanka.
Nalanda Eilawala, 29, died after being shot three times in the chest. An unidentified bodyguard was killed and another member of the People's Alliance was wounded.
The attackers opened fire on the lawmakers in Kuruwita, 50 miles southeast of the capital, Colombo, where they had gone to file nominations for next month's elections.
Land set aside for wildlife in Arctic
The Associated Press
Siberian republic strives to preserve endangered species
GENEVA — The vast Siberian republic of Yakutia is setting aside 270,000 square miles — twice the size of Japan — for nature reserves in hopes of saving the Siberian crane and other endangered species.
The Associated Press
"Yakutia is a unique place, with a vulnerable Arctic ecosystem," said Mikhail Nikolayev, president of the republic that makes up one-fifth of Russia at a news conference yesterday.
Polar bears, walruses and reindeer will be among the wildlife protected in a system of national parks and other reserves stretching into the arctic.
He said that the campaign aimed to correct mistakes made in previous years which had left them with a heritage of severe environmental degradation.
Claude Martin, director-general of the World Wildlife Fund, said that
the area to be set aside makes up one-fourth of Yakutia, which is also known as the Sakha Republic. His group, based just outside of Geneva in Gland, has donated $360,000 to help start the project.
Vasily Alexeyev, the republic's environmental minister, said that the scattered reserves would allow residents to practice traditional hunting and fishing methods but ban industry and mining.
However, the birds nesting areas will be flooded by the the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, the world's largest hydroelectric project.
By the year 2000, the republic intends to increase its national parks from three to 10, and add 50 resource reserves, 30 protected areas and 134 world heritage sites, Alexeexa said.
The Sakha people regard the Siberian crane as sacred and hope that they will be able to preserve the species by protecting the summer breeding areas of about 700 birds, he said.
ALEXeyeen said his republic had asked international environmental groups for help in encouraging Chinese officials to find a way to pre-
"Yakutia is a unique place, with a vulnerable Arctic ecosystem."
The Siberian crane is one of the largest birds in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a spectacular white bird with long, red legs and a red beak. Its annual arrival in Siberia and China are cultural events.
FINAL WEEK!
The crane has two populations, one based in Yakutia and the other in western Russia.
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