Iraqi troops are reportedly preparing for a strike inside Iraqi Kurdistan in an attempt to defeat British and American plans to impose new sanctions, the Electronic Telegraph claims.
The new "smart sanctions" are designed to reduce smuggling by tightening inspections and allowing non-military supplies to flow freely, thus denying President Saddam Hussein the opportunity to claim his people are being starved by the West.
An Iraqi military expert was quoted by the Telegraph as saying that "by invading Kurdistan, Saddam is going to try to goad Britain and America into retaliating with air strikes. If they do, Russia and China, who both oppose the reformed sanctions, would demand further reviews before any new sanctions plan could be implemented. Any confrontation will also boost Saddam's popularity."
Iraq, which said last week it would fight the sanctions plan, has a hidden oil trade worth £2.2 billion a year on top of the £11 billion it earns officially, according to the report.
Military experts in Iraq said that the build-up of troops is centered just south of the town of Arbil, in the western protected enclave of northern Iraq and subject to the no-fly zone.
The northern no-fly zone was set up in April 1991. It has no legitimate basis in UN resolutions.
The Telegraph sources claim Baghdad has sent tanks, artillery and armored vehicles to the northern region of Kirkuk in what was described as "excessive military activity.”
A smaller number of troops and armored units have been moved to Haditha, on Iraq's western border with Jordan, and the Iraqi president has also reopened the Al Baghdadi air base in the same area, they said, adding that ministries and security units had been moved “to secret locations close to schools and hospitals, making them problematic targets.”
The last time Iraq moved its ministries was in December 1998, just before the Operation Desert Fox air strikes on military targets.
Iraq has repeatedly denied opposition and Western originated stories of offensives against the Kurds, including allegations of the use of poison gas to kill civilians. In fact, Iraq is the only country which has given the Kurds a degree of autonomy.
Turkey has been in war with separatist Kurds for 16 years; some 30,000 people have died in the conflict.
Turkey has frequently entered Iraqi territories hunting rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Ironically, the Western media use expressions like "invasion" when referring to alleged Iraqi plans to attack the Kurdish areas, which are part of Iraq – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
