The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
Dear List,
Perhaps no-one is interested, but just in case:
the US confiscation of the Iraqi frozen assets is
illegal under banking laws it seems, according to
the Deutsche Bundesbank.
There are about 11 million Euros in German bank
accounts, belonging to the Iraqi Government. This
money has been frozen since 1990.
Now the Bundesbank has also been approached by the
US who wants to confiscate the money. The request
was refused. There is no basis in law for such
confiscation said a speaker for the ministry of
economic affairs on April 10. Once a new government
has been established, that government would have
access to those accounts.
But 11 million Euros is a measly sum compared to
the Iraqi assets the US has already confiscated
from willing banks (UBS?):
1. In March the US administration confiscated
$1.7 billion from various accounts - and
$600 million in securities.
2. And the US and "some of her allies" (UK?) have
confiscated (or liberated) another $1.2 billion
in cash, real estate, and diamonds.
Is this going to be law of the jungle all the way
from now on?
The Iraqi embassy in Belgium (plus contents) will
also be confiscated by the US.
The US has asked Belgium to close the Iraqi embassy
and to protect it against looting. Stephen Brauer,
US ambassador to Belgium, hopes the Belgium government
will act immediately to protect the Iraqi property in
Belgium. It belongs to the Iraqi people, he said.
It is very unfortunate that the US had no such concerns
about the art treasures and the library in Iraq - also
belonging to the Iraqi people.
Und as an aside:
Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, came
up with an interesting metaphor for injustice: Iraq.
Talking about some tax dispute to his EU colleagues
(Oct 7, 2002), he said the EU was treating Switzerland
somewhat like the 'Iraq of the Alps'. And this, said
Mr. Juncker was "totally unacceptable".
But it seems to have been perfectly acceptable for
Iraq to be so treated - for 12 years. Mr. Juncker could
even support the illegal invasion. Doing something is
better than doing nothing, he said explaining his support.
--Elga Sutter
---
"How smooth must be the language of the whites, when
they can make right look like wrong, and wrong look
like right." [Chief Black Hawk, Sauk]
_______________________________________________
Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss
To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk
All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk