DATE=8/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ / U-S CONGRESS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253258
BYLINE=RICHARD ENGEL
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Five U-S congressional staff members have 
begun a visit to Iraq.  Richard Engel reports from our 
Middle-East bureau in Cairo that it is the first such 
visit since the Gulf War.

TEXT:  The organizer of the U-S delegation's visit to 
Iraq, Phyllis Bennis, told reporters the congressional 
aides are hoping to get first-hand knowledge of the 
humanitarian situation in Iraq.

Ms. Bennis, who works for the Washington-based 
"Institute for Policy Studies", described the visit as 
the beginning of a process for the U-S Congress to 
take an independent look at what is happening in Iraq.

The U-S congressional aides are reportedly meeting 
with U-N humanitarian personnel in Iraq and are 
planning to visit several unspecified sites outside 
Baghdad.

But the U-S congressional staffers have so far refused 
to talk directly with journalists due to the sensitive 
nature of the trip.

// UNVOICED OPT //  Four of the congressional staff 
members work for Democrats, one works for a 
congressman with no party affiliation. // END OPT //

A U-S travel ban makes visits to Iraq difficult.  The 
State Department had also discouraged the 
congressional staff members from visiting Iraq, citing 
security concerns.  U-S embassy officials in Jordan 
also distanced themselves from the trip, saying they 
had no information about it.

Analysts say the visit by the congressional aides 
shows some members of the U-S Congress are beginning 
to question United States policy towards Iraq since 
the end of the Gulf War in 1991.   (SIGNED)

NEB/RHE/GE/RAE



30-Aug-1999 09:52 AM LOC (30-Aug-1999 1352 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.