IRAQ TEMPTS MOSCOW WITH OIL CONTRACTS.

In an effort to win the lifting of U.N. sanctions, the Iraqi government is reportedly offering attractive oil concessions to three permanent members of the Security Council: Russia, France, and China. The three have been offered contracts to rehabilitate and develop Iraqi oil fields, activities that can occur only after sanctions have been lifted. According to one middle-eastern analyst, "All three countries have been very active in Iraq… [and] the [oil] fields are a clear incentive for them to support" Saddam’s efforts to remove the sanctions. Iraq and Russia have already concluded a wide-ranging accord that will allow Russian firms to develop two massive Iraqi oil fields following the lifting of sanctions. Moscow is also being promised contracts to build a natural gas pipeline running between northern and southern Iraq. (12) Iraq’s debt to Russia is currently estimated at $7 billion.

Russian Army to Call Up Reservists.