Iraq Sanctions Challenge
39 West 14th St., #206,
New York, NY 10011
Voice: 212-633-6646
Fax: 212-633-2889
Web page: www.iacenter.org
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Iraq Sanctions Challenge en route to Baghdad
Contact: Deirdre Sinnott,
Kenneth MacLeish
( 212) 633-6646
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2000 - The Iraq Sanctions Challenge (ISC)
arrived this afternoon in Amman, Jordan, where they were
greeted warmly by the Jordanian people. The delegates
spoke to the Jordanian press at a press conference at the
Professional Building in Amman, and were in high spirits
as they prepared for their long journey to Baghdad.
The delegation is forced to travel overland by bus from
Amman to Baghdad, a fourteen hour trip, because of the
U.S.- and British-imposed no-fly zone. The no-fly zone
not only prohibits military flights over northern Iraq,
but has grounded Iraqi airlines and stopped all flights
into and out of the country.
The Sanctions Challenge delegation is bringing to Iraq
nearly $2 million dollars' worth of badly needed medicine
and medical supplies, a direct and deliberate violation
of both US law and the UN Sanctions which have prevented
the importation of any meaningful amount of medicine,
food, equipment or commercial goods since the August
1990. The shipment of medicine includes over a million
doses of tuberculosis medication, 273,000 doses of
Penicillin VK, 900 bottles of children's Amoxicillin
suspension, and thousands of doses of acetaminophen,
aspirin, cough syrup, and other basic medicines that are
not available in Iraq because of the U.S./UN sanctions.
This shipment fills a mere fraction of the need that
exists in Iraq for basic medical supplies.
The IRAQ SANCTIONS CHALLENGE is a 60-person delegation
led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. While
in Iraq the delegation will visit hospitals, schools, and
other institutions weakened by U.S./UN sanctions. The
delegation is composed of students from seven U.S.
colleges, members of Plowshares, the International Action
Center, New Hampshire Peace Action, American Muslims for
Global Peace & Justice, and Save the Children as well as
delegates from Italy, Japan, England, and Canada.
"We are united in our determination to deliver these
medicines safely to the people of Iraq. The criminal and
odious U.S./UN sanctions must end without conditions,"
said Sarah Flounders of the ISC. "Any new inspections
regime will only serve to prolong the suffering of the
Iraqi people. End the sanctions and the bombings now."
Tomorrow the delegation arrives in Baghdad, where they
will spend five days. The delegates return to New York on
January 21.
For more information on the ISC and the UN sanctions,
please visit our Website at www.iacenter.org
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