HEUDEBOUVILLE, France, Jan 15 (AFP)  French customs officers on Monday
 discovered 33 Turkish Kurds hiding inside a van during a routine check in this western French
 town, authorities said.

 The driver of the van, which had British license plates, was detained and charged with helping
 illegal immigrants enter France. The Kurds were sent to a holding center for illegal immigrants.

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Saddam Wants to Donate 100 Million Euros to Poor Americans

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- President Saddam Hussein wants to donate 100 million euros
($94.5 million) to poor Americans -- on the condition that an Iraqi committee supervises
how the money is spent in much the same way the United Nations oversees Iraq's oil
earnings.

The official Iraqi News Agency said Monday that the donation is the second to be
announced by Saddam targeting "people who need to be helped." The first, announced in
November, was for 1 billion euros ($940 million) and meant for the Palestinian people.

The agency, quoting a statement issued after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Saddam on
Monday, said the money could only be disbursed if an Iraqi committee is allowed to
supervise the distribution of the donation.

Under an exemption from the sweeping trade sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion
of Kuwait, the U.N. Sanctions Committee supervises how Iraq spends money earned from oil
sales.

The U.N. Sanctions Committee has not yet approved Saddam's proposed donation to the
Palestinians. The fund for the Americans also would be put to the committee, the news
agency said.

The two donations are in theory to come from money earned by Iraq from oil sales.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com