ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:97121702.NLT
DATE:12/17/97
TITLE:17-12-97 IRAQ REFUSES TO LET U.N. INSPECTORS INTO PRESIDENTIAL SITES
TEXT:
(UNSCOM chairman reports to Security Council) (510)
By Judy Aita
USIA United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- Iraq has rejected a U.N. offer to work out special
arrangements so that U.N. weapons inspectors could visit presidential
sites, members of the Security Council were told December 17.
Ambassador Richard Butler, chairman of the U.N. Special Commission
overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM), reported the
results of his Baghdad visit Decemjber 12 to 16 to U.S., Chinese,
French, Russian, and British diplomats during a private meeting.
Butler is scheduled to discuss the details of his visit to Baghdad
with the entire council on December 18. China, France, Great Britain,
Russia and the United States are permanent members of the council with
veto powers.
Butler also reported that Iraq asked that the U-2 reconnaissance
missions flown by the U.S. for UNSCOM be replaced by Iraqi plans or
those of other states and refused to participate in planning a work
program for UNSCOM for January and February 1998.
Iraqi officials rejected his offer to discuss special arrangements
that would "take into account Iraq's legitimate security, sovereignty,
and dignity concerns" in inspecting presidential and sovereign sites,
Butler said.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz also refused to give UNSCOM and
the Security Council a list or map of such sites so that the magnitude
of the exclusive sites could be seen, Butler said.
Tariq Aziz said "such a map-would assist the bombing of those sites by
the United States," the UNSCOM chairman reported.
During his meeting with Iraqi officials including Tariq Aziz, Butler
said, that the deputy prime minister said no special arrangement could
cover the concerns of the Government of Iraq.
Butler told Iraq that the presidential and sovereign sites are in
contradiction to the Security Council's decisions.
Presidential and sovereign sites are "not clearly defined, except that
it was stated that they were areas associated with the presidency and
were well know. They include sites, offices and resorts at which the
head of state resides and/or works .... headquarters of ministers. All
had gates and high walls but no further clarification was offered," he
said.
"They would not be allowed to be inspected or overflown under any
circumstances," Butler reported.
Civilian sites could only be inspected if the property owners granted
permission and Iraq would be reluctant to ask for that permission
because it has not legal authority to do so, he said.
Tariq Aziz did, however, agree to improve the arrangements previously
worked out with UNSCOM for inspections of "national security" sites,
Butler said. The new arrangements "should be tested straight away."
UNSCOM will be able to increase the size of the team beyond the
current limit of four; Iraq will take steps to "significantly" reduce
the delay in entry to sites; and when sites are being declared
sensitive an UNSCOM inspector will be allowed to enter the site to
ensure that movement within it was frozen, Butler reported.
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