Blame Saddam, Not Sanctions

THE NEW REPUBLIC, June 18 — In one crescent-shaped slice of Iraq — an area not governed by dictator Saddam Hussein — the starvation found elsewhere in the country is nowhere to be seen, the national weekly reported.

Antibiotics, fruit, meat and even Mercedes-Benz cars and Sony PlayStations are plentiful in Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq, which like the rest of the country is subject to U.N. restrictions on the sale of Iraqi oil but not subject to Hussein's dictatorship.

Under the U.N. plan, state authorities working with the United Nations spend the country's oil profits. Whereas Hussein has resold humanitarian aid supplies to finance palaces and arms, Northern Iraq's Kurdish government has built a university, rural medical clinics, and sewage systems. The region has lower infant mortality rates than it did before sanctions began in 1990.

Although the Bush administration has considered scaling back sanctions, many Kurds in Northern Iraq want sanctions strengthened, The New Republic reported.

Irish Bishops Condemn Asylum Crackdown

BELFAST NEWS LETTER, June 19 — Ireland's bishops sharply criticized what they called Dublin's “asylum exclusion policies,” the Belfast daily reported.

On the eve of World Refugee Day, the bishops’ Committee on Asylum Seekers and Refugees accused Ireland of keeping refugees out of the country despite Ireland's need for immigrant labor.

After Attack, Reggae Stars Clean Up Their Music

LOS ANGELES TIMES, June 19 — A Jamaican Rastafarian group made 1,200 brooms to symbolize their effort to sweep the sex and violence of American rap out of Jamaican reggae, the Los Angeles daily reported.

Gary Himelfarb, a Washington-based reggae promoter who uses the name Dr. Dread, sent brooms and CDs featuring songs titled “Unconditional Love” and “Walk Away from Trouble” to 1,000 of the biggest retail shops, producers and record stations in the United States and the Caribbean.

Reggae stars like Bounty Killer, Sizzla and Capleton filled their music with images of sex, drugs and violence. Meanwhile, drug-related murders, robberies and rapes are on the rise in the Caribbean, and religious leaders in St. Lucia cited violent lyrics as one reason that two Rastafarians attacked a Catholic cathedral during Mass in December, killing a nun and a priest.

Some performers, like Angie Angel, have recently switched from lewd or violent songs to uplifting songs. Angel was featured on the Himelfarb CD.

Philippines Peace Talks Begin

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, June 20 — The Philippine government and the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front began peace talks led by Seif al-Islam, son of Libyan dictator Muammar Al-Quaddafi, the wire service reported.

The negotiators hope to end a 23-year rebellion. The Muslim group is one of three separatist groups seeking an independent Islamic state in the predominantly Catholic country. Another separatist group signed a peace deal in 1996, but a third, Abu Sayyaf, is currently holding 26 hostages in the southern Philippines.