[PEN-L:1833] Fw: [IAC] FROM Baghdad -- news release

["Frank Durgin" <fdurgin1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----------
> From: Rania Masri <rmasri@xxxxxxx>
> To: iac-list@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [IAC] FROM Baghdad -- news release
> Date: Monday, December 21, 1998 9:33 AM
>
> =========Iraq Action Coalition ========http://leb.net/IAC/ =======
> To subscribe, send an e-mail to "majordomo@xxxxxxx" with
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> ==================================================================
> From: Kathy Kelly <kkelly@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> PRESS STATEMENT 20 DECEMBER
>
> Voices in the Wilderness
> A Campaign to End the UN/US Sanctions Against Iraq
>
> For Immediate Release
> December 20, 1998
> Contact Kathy Kelly
> Baghdad - Al Fanar Hotel: 001-964-1-7188007
>
> Members of the 19th Voices in the Wilderness delegation, who arrived in
> Baghdad on December 19, welcome the news that President Clinton has
ceased
> the bombing of Iraq. Yet we know that the silent warfare will continue
> through economic sanctions, and that the destruction caused by this most
> recent bombardment will result in ongoing suffering and death.
>
> Our itinerary will be as follows:
>
> December 22:  Ministry of Trade building.
>
> We will hold a press conference at the Ministry of Trade to announce that
> we continue to publicly defy U.S. laws regarding the embargo.  In 18
> previous delegations, we have broken the embargo by traveling to Iraq and
> bringing medicines to children and families.  On December 3, Voices in
the
> Wilderness received a letter from the U.S. Treasury Department proposing
a
> $163,000 fine for delivering "medicines and toys" to children in Iraq.
We
> will show samples of medicines and toys which we will be bringing to the
> children we plan to visit in Iraqi hospitals this week.
>
> We will explain our refusal to pay any penalties, as all donations to our
> campaign are intended for the purchase of medicines and to assist with
> efforts to end the embargo against Iraq.
>
> We will invite members of the U.S. Government and other governments to
> join us in our effort to alleviate the suffering by ending the embargo.
> The U.S. and UK governments unilaterally chose to bomb Iraq.  They acted
> without the support of the UN.  The time has come for people throughout
> the world and governments of the world to act in spite of the U.S. veto
in
> the UN Security Council, and to begin free trade and travel with Iraq.
> The time has come for the world to resume buying Iraq's oil so that Iraqi
> families can feed themselves and care for their urgent physical and
> medical needs.
>
> We will symbolically declare an end to the embargo by purchasing a small
> amount of Iraqi oil, which will be used to light a small lamp. This act
> will demonstrate our determination to "shed light" on the suffering
caused
> by the embargo, and our continued commitment to work with others
worldwide
> to avoid further destruction and to reinstate free trade and travel with
> Iraq.
>
> 23 December 	Voices in the Wilderness members will visit students at a
> primary and secondary school in Baghdad.
>
> We will display a large banner bearing our logo of a woman crouching over
> her child to protect the infant from a weapon labeled "sanctions."
> Students will be asked what this image means to them.  We will ask the
> students to help us understand what they have experienced this past week.

>
> 24 December     Christmas Eve Vigil.
>
> At 12 noon, we will hold a press conference in the maternity ward of a
> hospital damaged by the recent bombing. In the U.S., people will be
> preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus, an infant born into wretched
> poverty and revered as the Prince of Peace.  We will erect a nativity
> scene by setting up a tent and a Star of Bethlehem at the site where
> children were born into the world under bombardment.  Doctors will be
> invited to speak as the "wise men" or magi, and new mothers, expectant
> mothers and children will be invited to join us.  Various representatives
> of NGOs working in Baghdad, along with religious leaders, will also be
> welcome.
>
> 19th Delegation Members:  Kathy Kelly, Chicago IL.  Anne Montgomery, NYC,
NY.
> Alan Pogue, Austin TX.   Brad Simpson, Chicago IL.
>
>
>
>
> Voices in the Wilderness
> 	A Campaign to End the US/UN Economic Sanctions Against the People of
Iraq
> 1460 West Carmen Ave.
> Chicago, IL 60640
> ph:773-784-8065; fax: 773-784-8837
> email: kkelly@xxxxxxxxxxx
> website: http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw
>
>