NEWS BRIEFS

Iraq Urges U.N. to End Sanctions

UNITED NATIONS--Iraq pleaded yesterday for the United Nations to lift trade sanctions that Iraq contends have contributed to the deaths of thousands of people by cutting off essential food and medicine.

Saddam Hussein's top diplomat, Tariq Aziz, insisted Iraq had met the most important of its obligations under Gulf War cease-fire terms and accused some nations of keeping sanctions in place for purely political reasons.

But a statement prepared by the Security Council president contains 15 pages of charges that Iraq has failed to comply with U.N. orders to destroy its terror weapons. A copy of it, to be delivered at today's public council session on Iraq, was obtained by The Associated Press.

Diplomats said Iraq apparently was seeking a partial lifting of the sanctions, in proportion to how much it is obeying the Security Council's cease-fire terms.

But the French. British, U.S. and Russian ambassadors said Iraq must meet all its obligations before sanctions can be lifted. "There is no way for a compromise, "Britain's Ambassador David Hannay said. NATION

Democrats Begin to Push Tax Cut

WASHINGTON--Democrats began pushing their middle-income tax cut through the Senate yesterday and said voters would decide whether President Bush was wrong in promising to veto it.

"I hope he will change his mind," Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas), chief sponsor of the bill, said of Bush. "If he will remove his Pat Buchanan blinders, the president will see this bill for what it is: an honest effort at finding a solution."

At the White House, Bush assured Republican leaders that he will veto the bill, which would raise taxes on the wealthiest 800,000 people to pay for the tax cut for 31 million.

"There's got to be no mistake about this: Raising taxes on the American people given the situation is simply not acceptable," Bush said. "I'm going to veto that tax increase bill as soon as it is sent to me."

That is likely to be late next week--perhaps on the March 20 deadline by which Bush said Congress should pass his short-term plan for stimulating the economy.

Although few economists would hail the stimulative powers of the Senate bill-or the similar version that passed the House--it has some form of each of the seven proposals that Bush said would spureconomic growth.

Commission Opposes Scholarship Policy

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights urged the Bush administration yesterday to reconsider its ban on race-specific scholarships, saying its policy signals a retreat from equal opportunity.

The group said in a letter to the Education Department that the policy "is inconsistent with prior interpretations of the department and runs counter to well-established formulations for affirmative action."

"The Department's policy may be seen as a distressing signal to students, to minority groups, and to disadvantaged individuals that the federal government will not work earnestly to meet their reasonable needs," the letter said.

Commission Chair Arthur A. Fletcher wrote the letter to the Education Department's assistant secretary for civil rights, Michael L. Williams.

He said the administration's draft policy "sends a message, intentional or not, that the federal government is retreating from the vigorous and aggressive pursuit of equal educational opportunity for minorities."