Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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not want tourists coming to Turkey.<br />
"They are escalating the war and attacking the people...<br />
our people," he said.<br />
Accepting an appeal for extreme care to protect the<br />
tourists before theIr release, BaYlk said aH would be<br />
done and measures would also be taken to free all six<br />
tog<strong>et</strong>her, to avoid possible security riskS.<br />
He warned, however, that Turkish operations in<br />
the region could put their lives in risk and called for<br />
a l<strong>et</strong>up in the militaI)' crackdown. BaYlk ad<strong>de</strong>d this<br />
was not a condition for the release but would ease<br />
things for the tourists.<br />
The PKK is wary that Turkish hardliners may attempt<br />
to <strong>de</strong>stroy the units responsible for the abductions,<br />
alon~ with their hostages, and later blame the<br />
organization for the killings. "They are playing a game<br />
but it is an incredibly dangerous one," BaYlk<br />
commented. .<br />
As of Monday, the English-language Turkish Daily<br />
News based m Ankara is to continue negotiations<br />
for a safe release and arrangé for the tourists to reach<br />
their countries without any hindrance.<br />
The. PKK lea<strong>de</strong>rship has accepted the mediation of<br />
this reporter for this case.- It has also called for any<br />
i~ternational ~y, inclu~ing human rights organizations<br />
and medIcal estabhshments, to coordinate and<br />
be at the scene as the release takes place. On Friday<br />
in a long me<strong>et</strong>ing with this reporter, BaYlk was for~<br />
war<strong>de</strong>d appeals on behalf of the tourists' Tamilies,<br />
and personally asked to show humanitarian interest<br />
and end this drama. Upon request, the PKK lea<strong>de</strong>rship<br />
agreed to take up the issue immediately and respond<br />
during the weekend.<br />
The PKK currently holds French nationals Michael<br />
Coudray, Robert Audin, Fernand Haron and another<br />
!<strong>de</strong>ntified only as Pierre. Also, British national<br />
DaVId Rowbottom and his Australian cousin Tania<br />
Miller were abducted in Tatvan while on a two-year<br />
bicycle tour of the world.<br />
"All are in good health and we are extremely careful<br />
about t~eir sec.urity," BaYlk said. He called, however,.<br />
for mternatlOnal attention to what happens after<br />
theIr release and appealed for international bodies<br />
and re.lated governments to insure they reach their<br />
countnes safely. .<br />
The rel.e~se process started on July 27 with the<br />
AEGK mJ!~tary command of the ~KK announcing it<br />
was expectm~ an appeal from an mternational bOdy<br />
to s<strong>et</strong> the captives free.<br />
The same day, this reporter arrived in a Middle<br />
East bor<strong>de</strong>r area where the me<strong>et</strong>ing with the PKK lea<strong>de</strong>rship<br />
took place. The AEGK was relayed the l<strong>et</strong>ters<br />
of the families appealing for the release and for<br />
guaranteed measures to be taken later for their saf<strong>et</strong>y.<br />
During the weekend, talks continued and the<br />
central <strong>de</strong>cision was ma<strong>de</strong>.,<br />
UN sanctions push<br />
Iraq to the brink of tragedy<br />
• Security Council has linked any lifting of the blocka<strong>de</strong> to<br />
compliance with Gulf War cease-fire terms, including the<br />
scrapping of Iraq's weapons of mass-<strong>de</strong>struction<br />
By leon Barkho<br />
Reuter Staff Writer<br />
BAGHDAD- Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Saddam Hussein,<br />
his meaning un<strong>de</strong>rstood by few at the time,<br />
warned Kuwait darkly in 1990 that Iraq<br />
could tolerate many things but not threats to<br />
its "daily bread." Short of cash after eight<br />
bruising years at war with Iran, he accused<br />
the emIrate of stealing Iraq's oil and un<strong>de</strong>rmining<br />
its economy.<br />
On Aug. 2, 1990, Iraqi troops inva<strong>de</strong>d.<br />
But three years on, many of Iraq's 18 million<br />
people, who are sitting on the world's<br />
second largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia,<br />
are on the bread line.<br />
. "A grave humanitarian tragedy is unfolding,"<br />
the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization<br />
warned in a recent report. U.N. sanctions,<br />
the report said, were forcing most of<br />
the population to live un<strong>de</strong>r "the most <strong>de</strong>plorable<br />
conditions." Iraq, which has traditionally<br />
regar<strong>de</strong>d Kuwait as part of its territory,<br />
has paid a high price for seizing the<br />
emirate. International isolation followed<br />
with the world community rail ring behind<br />
the U.N. tra<strong>de</strong> blocka<strong>de</strong>. A forrrndable U.S.led<br />
multi-national force battered its anny<br />
and ejected its troops in Feb. 1991.<br />
The alliance also smashed its infrastructure,<br />
<strong>de</strong>priving it for a time of power and<br />
telecommunications.<br />
Revolts inthe Kurdish north and Shiite<br />
south shook Iraq. The armed forces rallied<br />
to the government, crushing the revolts, but<br />
rebel Kurds, shiel<strong>de</strong>d by Western warplanes,<br />
have since taken control of a large<br />
slice of the north. .<br />
Kuwait, for its part, êmerged 'from the crisis<br />
with chunks of Iraqi land and territorial<br />
waters. A U.N. bor<strong>de</strong>r <strong>de</strong>marcation commission<br />
moved the emirate's bor<strong>de</strong>r north and<br />
exten<strong>de</strong>d its maritime frontier almost landlocking<br />
Iraq.<br />
But the Iraqi government remains unbowed.<br />
Fiery language against Kuwait's oil<br />
policy and its support of Iraq's exiled opposition<br />
is rampant in official newspapers. The<br />
rh<strong>et</strong>oric is reminiscent of 1990 wben Iraq<br />
accused the emirate of stabbing it "in the<br />
back with a poisoned dagger." The official<br />
press still refers to KuwaIt as a region and a<br />
newspaper published by Saddam's el<strong>de</strong>st<br />
son, pday, <strong>de</strong>scribes the emirate as an Iraqi<br />
provmce.<br />
The bor<strong>de</strong>r changes have caused anger in<br />
Iraq.<br />
"History will never forgive anr, government<br />
agreeing to the new oor<strong>de</strong>rs, , says Ali<br />
Mohammed Hussein, a university lecturer.<br />
"There is no end to Sabahs' (Kuwait ruling<br />
family) insatiable greed. They want to swallow<br />
Iraq."<br />
A school teacher who took part in the invasion,<br />
adds, "The more sacrifices we offer,<br />
the <strong>de</strong>arer that part of the country becomes."<br />
But many Iraqis would like the government<br />
to forg<strong>et</strong> the past and focus on ensurin&<br />
that sanctions are lifted.<br />
'It is g<strong>et</strong>ting tougher and tougher with<br />
every passing month," said a civil servant.<br />
"Even the government now realizes that<br />
it has to do som<strong>et</strong>hing to alleviate people's<br />
suffering." Food prices have sky-rock<strong>et</strong>ed.<br />
Flour costs 355 times more than before<br />
the embargo, sugar 149 times more, veg<strong>et</strong>able<br />
oil 106 times more and rice 70 times<br />
more.<br />
Personal incomes, in terms of purchasing<br />
power, lag farbehind. Average monthly<br />
wages for most workers have increased two<br />
to three-fold since 1990.<br />
Average monthly salaries range from 250<br />
Iraqi dinars (five dollars at the unofficial exchange<br />
rate) to 1,500 dinars for senior officials<br />
an.d anny officers. U.N. relief workers<br />
7