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Anti us trade fair Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20021101/ap_wo_en_po/iraq_trade_fair_1http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20021101/ap_wo_en_po/iraq_trade_fair_1
Yahoo! News
Harsh words for America as Baghdad trade fair opens
Fri Nov 1, 9:49 AM ET
By DUSAN STOJANOVIC, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Baghdad International Trade Fair opened Friday with patriotic songs, praise for Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and condemnation of America. Participation at the two-week fair was at a level not seen since the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites).
Saddam's aides hailed the turnout — nearly 1,200 companies from 49 countries — as a global show of support for Iraq's struggle against Washington's "aggressive policies."
But the participants, mostly representing smaller trade firms looking for lucrative deals once a punishing U.N. trade embargo is lifted, said they were here to sell — not to support Saddam's regime.
"We are here not for politics but for pure business," said Guy Jevinoy, a representative of France's E-Sat company, which sells satellite phones. "We are here to establish contacts and hope for better days for Iraq."
Attendance at the fair, held at a sprawling complex decayed by years of economic ruin and wars, was well ahead of last year's, which attracted nearly 900 companies from 38 countries.
Before the Gulf War, the Baghdad fair, held annually since 1964, drew exhibitors from an average of 53 countries and was among the major trade shows in the Arab world.
Most of Western exhibitors came here privately rather than under any government sponsorship or encouragement. They were reluctant to talk freely as plain clothes Iraqi policemen strolled the halls. Vendors refused to discuss why they would look for deals with a government which may be facing attack by the United States.
"Trade will go on with or without Saddam," said one Italian tradesman who refused to be identified. "We are here to establish a market, and the market will be here even when Saddam is gone. Hope we are home before Americans decide to strike."
The more than 20,000 officials and business people attending the fair are hoping to expand exports to Iraq under the terms of the U.N. "oil for food" program, which allows Baghdad to sell unlimited amounts of crude oil but restricts what it can buy mainly to food, medicine and other necessities.
"This is a virgin market that is in demand of everything," said Nasyr Birkolz, a German businessman whose company "Birkolz" sells creme, shampoo, soap and other hygiene products. "If we don't establish our presence here, someone else will when the embargo is lifted."
At a nearby stand, Arif Hassani, a university professor, watched a shining Peugeot convertible displayed in the French pavilion.
"Nice car," he said with a grin. "But, for us ordinary Iraqis, a faraway dream."
Some Western countries, like France and Germany, have longtime trade relations with Iraq, believed to have the second-biggest proven reserves of petroleum in OPEC (news - web sites). Those trade ties date back before the sanctions, which were imposed after Saddam sent his troops into Kuwait in 1990.
After a U.S.-led coalition drove the Iraqis from Kuwait the following year, the Security Council refused to lift the sanctions until U.N. inspectors verified that Baghdad no longer possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Since the sanctions were imposed, the value of the Iraqi dinar has collapsed and monthly wages average the equivalent of about US $10.
The Kuwaitis stayed away from the fair, but Iraq's other old adversaries — Iran and Saudi Arabia — were represented, along with 15 other Arab countries. Other companies came from such countries as China, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.
"We have been trading with Iraq for years, and when the trade is boosted, so will political relations between the two countries," said Saud Al-Fayez, general manager of the Saudi Arabian Pipes Co.
Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam's close aide, officially opened the 35th Baghdad International Fair, calling the broad attendance a "clear evidence of the world's trust in Iraq and its economy."
Girls waving scarves with Saddam's portrait sang patriotic songs as Iraqi's top brass — except for the reclusive Iraqi president — watched the opening ceremony under watchful eyes of machine-gun totting guards and plainclothes police.
"America can say what it wants," the girls sang, "but for the next 1,000 years, we will say Yes, Yes for Saddam."
In his speech, Ramadan blasted the sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait as "a terrorist weapon used by the United States and the British government against Iraq and its people."
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