

			   THE WHITE HOUSE
  
		    Office of the Press Secretary
  
  _______________________________________________________________
  
  For Immediate Release                             April 7, 1994
  
  
  
		 TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
	 TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND
	       THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE
  
  
			  April 7, 1994
  
  
  
  Dear Mr. Speaker:     (Dear Mr. President:)
  
  Consistent with the Authorization for Use of Military Force 
  Against Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1), and as part of 
  my effort to keep the Congress fully informed, I am reporting 
  on the status of efforts to obtain Iraq's compliance with the 
  resolutions adopted by the U.N. Security Council.
  
  It remains our judgment that the U.N. Special Commission on 
  Iraq (UNSCOM) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
  have effectively disbanded the Iraqi nuclear weapons program at 
  least for the near term.  The United Nations has destroyed Iraqi 
  missile launchers, support facilities, and a good deal of Iraq's 
  indigenous capability to manufacture prohibited missiles.  The 
  UNSCOM teams have reduced Iraq's ability to produce chemical 
  weapons; inventorying and destroying chemical munitions.  The 
  United Nations has inspected, and is preparing to monitor, 
  several facilities identified as capable of supporting a 
  biological weapons program.
  
  Iraq's formal acceptance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 
  (UNSCR) 715 (ongoing monitoring and verification) in November 
  1993 was long overdue.  The next challenge for the international 
  community is to ensure that Iraq does not break its promise on 
  ongoing monitoring and verification as Iraq has repeatedly done 
  so in the past on other commitments.  Continued vigilance is 
  necessary because we believe that Saddam Hussein is committed 
  to rebuilding his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capability.
  
  We are seriously concerned about the many contradictions 
  and unanswered questions remaining in regard to Iraq's WMD 
  capability, especially in the chemical weapons area.  It is 
  therefore extremely important that the international community 
  establish an effective, comprehensive, and sustainable ongoing 
  monitoring and verification regime as required by UNSCR 715.
  
  Rolf Ekeus, the Chairman of UNSCOM, has told Iraq that it 
  must establish a clear track record of compliance before he can 
  report favorably to the Security Council.  However, Chairman 
  Ekeus has said he does not expect to be able to report before 
  the end of the year, at the earliest.  We strongly endorse 
  Chairman Ekeus' approach and reject any establishment of a 
  timetable for determining whether Iraq has complied with 
  UNSCR 715.  There must be a sustained period of unquestionable, 
  complete compliance with the monitoring and verification plans.
  
  
							 (OVER)                                  2
  
  The "no-fly zones" over northern and southern Iraq permit 
  the monitoring of Iraq's compliance with UNSCRs 687 and 688.  
  Over the last 2 years, the northern no-fly zone has deterred 
  Iraq from a major military offensive in the region.  Since the 
  no-fly zone was established in southern Iraq, Iraq's use of 
  aircraft against its population in the region has stopped.  
  However, Iraqi forces have responded to the no-fly zone by 
  stepping up their use of land-based artillery to shell marsh 
  villages.
  
  Indeed, the ongoing military campaign against the civilian 
  population of the marsh villages intensified during the 
  beginning of March.  A large search-and-destroy operation is 
  taking place.  The offensive includes the razing of villages 
  and large-scale burning operations, concentrated in the triangle 
  bounded by An Nasiriya, Al Qurnah, and Basrah.  The magnitude 
  of the operation is causing civilian inhabitants to flee toward 
  Iran, as well as deeper into the marshes toward the outskirts of 
  southern Iraqi cities.
  
  In northern Iraq, in the vicinity of Mosul, there is both Iraqi 
  troop movement and some increase in the number of troops.  Iraqi 
  intentions are not clear and we are watching this situation 
  closely.
  
  The Special Rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, 
  Max van der Stoel, presented a new report in February 1994 on 
  the human rights situation in Iraq describing the Iraqi 
  military's continuing repression against its civilian popula-
  tions in the marshes.  The Special Rapporteur asserts that the 
  Government of Iraq has engaged in war crimes and crimes against 
  humanity, and may have committed violations of the 1948 Genocide 
  Convention.  Regarding the Kurds, the Special Rapporteur has 
  judged that the extent and gravity of reported violations places 
  the survival of Kurds in jeopardy.  The Special Rapporteur 
  judged that there are essentially no freedoms of opinion, 
  expression, or association in Iraq.  Torture is widespread in 
  Iraq and results from a system of state-terror successfully 
  directed at subduing the population.  The Special Rapporteur 
  repeated his recommendation for the establishment of human 
  rights monitors strategically located to improve the flow of 
  information and to provide independent verification of reports.
  
  The United States continues to work closely with the 
  United Nations and other organizations to provide humanitarian 
  relief to the people of northern Iraq.  Iraqi government efforts 
  to disrupt this assistance unfortunately persist.  We continue 
  to support U.N. efforts to mount a relief program for persons in 
  Baghdad and the South, provided that supplies are not diverted 
  by the Iraqi government.  We have stepped up efforts to press 
  for the placement of human rights monitors for Iraq as proposed 
  by the U.N. Special Rapporteur.  We also continue to support the 
  establishment of a U.N. commission to investigate and publicize 
  Iraqi war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations 
  of international law.
  
  The Security Council most recently addressed Iraqi sanctions 
  at its March 18, 1994, regular 60-day review of Iraq's com-
  pliance with its obligations under relevant resolutions.  At 
  that meeting, Security Council members were in agreement that 
  Iraq is not in compliance with resolutions of the Council, and 
  that existing sanctions should remain in force, without change.
  

  
  The sanctions regime exempts medicine and, in the case of 
  foodstuffs, requires only that the U.N. Sanctions Committee 
  be notified of food shipments.  The Sanctions Committee also 
  continues to consider and, when appropriate, approve requests 
  to send to Iraq materials and supplies for essential civilian 
  needs.  The Iraqi government, in contrast, has maintained a 
  full embargo against its northern provinces and has acted to 
  distribute humanitarian supplies only to its supporters and to 
  the military.
  
  The Iraqi government has so far refused to sell $1.6 billion 
  in oil as previously authorized by the Security Council 
  in UNSCRs 706 and 712.  Talks between Iraq and the 
  United Nations on implementing these resolutions ended 
  unsuccessfully in October 1993.  Iraq could use proceeds 
  from such sales to purchase foodstuffs, medicines, materials, 
  and supplies for essential civilian needs of its population, 
  subject to U.N. monitoring of sales and the equitable distri-
  bution of humanitarian supplies (including to its northern 
  provinces).  Iraqi authorities bear full responsibility for 
  any suffering in Iraq that results from their refusal to 
  implement UNSCRs 706 and 712.
  
  Proceeds from oil sales also would be used to compensate 
  persons injured by Iraq's unlawful invasion and occupation of 
  Kuwait.  The U.N. Compensation Commission (UNCC) has received 
  about 2.3 million claims so far, with another 200,000 expected.  
  The U.S. Government has now filed a total of eight sets of 
  individual claims with the Commission, bringing U.S. claims 
  filed to roughly 3,000 with a total asserted value of over 
  $205 million.  In addition, the U.S. Government intends to 
  submit this summer numerous corporate claims filed by American 
  corporations and is currently reviewing over 180 claims by U.S. 
  businesses for possible submission to the UNCC.  The asserted 
  value of U.S. corporate claims received to date is about 
  $1.6 billion.
  
  During the week of March 21, 1994, the Commission's Governing 
  Council adopted decisions on how to allocate future funds 
  among different claimants and how to ensure that payments made 
  to claimants through national governments would be made in a 
  timely, fair, and efficient manner.  Meanwhile, a panel of 
  commissioners began to work on the first set of individual 
  claims for serious personal injury or death.  The panel is 
  expected to report its findings to the Governing Council in 
  its spring meeting, scheduled for May 1994.
  
  U.N. Security Council Resolution 778 permits the use of a 
  portion of frozen Iraqi oil assets to fund crucial U.N. 
  activities concerning Iraq, including humanitarian relief, 
  UNSCOM, and the Compensation Commission.  (The funds will be 
  repaid, with interest, from Iraqi oil revenues as soon as Iraqi 
  oil exports resume.)  The United States is prepared to transfer 
  to a U.N.-managed escrow account up to $200 million in frozen 
  Iraqi oil assets held in U.S. financial institutions, provided 
  that U.S. contributions do not exceed 50 percent of the total 
  amount contributed by all countries.  We have arranged a total 
  of about $113 million in such matching contributions thus far.
  
  Iraq still has not met its obligations concerning Kuwaitis 
  and third-country nationals it detained during the war.  Iraq 
  has taken no substantive steps to cooperate fully with the 
  International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as required 
  by UNSCR 687, although it has received more than 600 files on 
  missing individuals.  We continue to work for Iraqi compliance.
  
  Examples of Iraqi noncooperation and noncompliance continue 
  in other areas.  For instance, reliable reports indicate that 
  the Government of Iraq is offering reward money for terrorist 
  acts against U.N. and humanitarian relief workers in Iraq.  The 
  offering of bounty for such acts, as well as the commission of 
  such acts, in our view, constitute violations of UNSCRs 687 
  and 688.  In the latest series of attacks on the international 
  relief community, there were two incidents in which members of 
  the U.N. Guard Contingent in Iraq were shot and seriously 
  wounded in March 1994.
  
  As I stated in my last report to you on this issue, Iraq 
  can rejoin the community of civilized nations only through 
  democratic processes, respect for human rights, equal treatment 
  of its people, and adherence to basic norms of international 
  behavior.  Iraq's government should represent all Iraq's people 
  and be committed to the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq.  
  The Iraqi National Congress (INC) espouses these goals, the 
  fulfillment of which would make Iraq a stabilizing force in the 
  Gulf region.
  
  I am grateful for the support by the Congress of our efforts.
  
				Sincerely,
  
  
  
				WILLIAM J. CLINTON
  
  
  
  
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