(29 Aug 1999) English/Nat
A U-S Congressional team has travelled to Baghdad in Iraq to assess the impact of sanctions on the Iraqi people.
The U-S has been criticised by other U-N Security Council countries for placing on hold hundreds of humanitarian aid contracts worth (m) millions of U-S dollars.
In defiance of the White House, a U-S congressional delegation touched down in Amman, in Jordan on Saturday on route for Baghdad.
The delegation leader, Phyllis Bennis, who works for the Washington based Institute for Policy Studies explained their goal is to see how years of sanctions have effected the lives of the Iraqi people.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The purpose is to examine the impact of sanctions on the humanitarian situation in Iraq, and on U-S policy, including questions of U-S grain exports, depleted uranium and Gulf War syndrome which is very important to U-S veterans, and the impact of the U-S-Iraq policy on the impact of the U-S policy on the region as a whole."
SUPER CAPTION: Phyllis Bennis, Delegation Leader
France and other Security Council members have criticised the United States for placing on hold hundreds of humanitarian aid contracts worth (m) millions of U-S dollars.
When Bennis was asked if the trip would be safe she replied that it would be no less dangerous for the delegation than it is already for the Iraqi people.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"U-S policy of bombing in Iraq has made it very dangerous to be in Iraq for all Iraqis. There are 22 and a half million (m) Iraqis, it is very dangerous for them all the time, we assume it will be no less dangerous for us. We have a legal right, and I think the congressional aides and the members of Congress themselves believe that they have the right and the obligation to take a look at this policy."
SUPER CAPTION: Phyllis Bennis, Delegation Leader
The five-member group had cancelled the trip after the State Department said it would not validate their passports.
U-S citizens are barred from visiting Iraq.
But the five decided to go anyway when they found out they could enter Iraq so long as they didn't use their American passports.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We have no intention of meeting President Saddam Hussein. We are travelling with six Congressional aides from different offices and committees of the U-S Congress.
SUPER CAPTION: Phyllis Bennis, Delegation Leader
Backed by several religious, Arab-American, and peace organisations, they plan to meet with relief workers and U-N officials and gather information on the impact on Iraq of U-N economic sanctions.
They plan to stay for about a week.
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