Senate Bill Would Punish Baghdad Unless It Opens Weapons Factories

A bill that would impose economic sanctions on Iraq unless it agrees to international inspection of suspected nuclear, chemical and biological weapons plants was introduced Friday in the Senate.

The bill, by Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.), would suspend all U.S. export credits and other aid to Iraq, end all trade preferences and impose duties as high as 50% on Iraqi imports.

Iraq received $500 million in U.S. export credits in 1989 and wants $1 billion in credits this year, D’Amato said. He said the United States buys $2 billion a year of Iraqi oil.

“We shouldn’t be financing a killer regime. Let them go sell their oil elsewhere,” D’Amato said in a statement. He also referred to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as “the butcher of Baghdad.”

The United States has accused Iraq of trying to develop nuclear and biological weapons, a charge that Hussein denies. However, he has indicated that Iraq has chemical weapons.