23 October 1997
SECURITY COUNCIL PAVES WAY FOR TRAVEL BAN ON IRAQI OFFICIALS
(Will impose new sanctions if Iraq blocks weapons inspections) (860) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Condemning Baghdad's continued refusal to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors, the Security Council October 23 set in motion procedures that would impose travel restrictions on Iraqi officials if problems continue. Adopting a draft resolution first proposed by the United States and Great Britain by a vote of 10 to The countries abstaining -- China, Russia, France, Egypt, and Kenya -- acknowledged that there were problems with Iraq's cooperation but disagreed on imposing new sanctions while, they said, Iraq was still cooperating with UNSCOM in other aspects of the destruction of the banned biological, chemical, ballistic and nuclear weapons. U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson said after the vote that "it is amazing to me that after six and a half years this body still must consider new approaches to convince Iraq to comply with its international obligations." "Only one party is responsible for this state of affairs, a very sad one, the Baghdad regime," the ambassador said. The resolution, numbered 1134, also postpones any sanctions review until April 1998, thus eliminating any possibility that the seven-year-old oil embargo imposed during the invasion of Kuwait will be lifted any time soon. It builds on the threat in council resolution 1115 adopted in June. Resolution 1115 demanded that Iraq allow U.N. weapons inspectors immediate and unconditional access to all sites and records the inspectors wish to see. The council warned that it would impose additional sanctions if Iraqi authorities continued to block U.N. weapons inspections. "Apparently this strong warning was not enough," Richardson noted. The UNSCOM report "contains a litany of Iraqi harassment, obfuscation, obstruction and deception -- all taking place after resolution 1115 was adopted." "UNSCOM operates as an arm of the Security Council and gets its mandate solely from Security Council resolutions. When Baghdad challenges UNSCOM it challenges the council and the council has again made clear that it will brook no such challenges," Richardson said. "If after six and a half years Iraq still does not understand this basic fact, then we must once again consider new mechanisms to make it understand," the ambassador said. The council condemned Iraq's refusal to allow UNSCOM access to some sites, endangering the safety of U.N. weapons experts, the removal and destruction of documents of interest to UNSCOM, and interference with the freedom of movement of UNSCOM personnel. While the resolution was being negotiated, Iraq threatened to stop cooperating with the U.N. if new sanctions are imposed. But the threats did not help. "This council will not be deflected from its course by unacceptable Iraqi attempts at blackmail," British Ambassador Sir John Weston said. "The message which needs to be sent clearly is that if the Government of Iraq chooses to challenge the will and authority of the Security Council, it can be sure of a firm and principled response." "If Iraq has not yet understood this, it has understood nothing," Weston said. The major issue during the current UNSCOM report has been blocked inspections. It reached serious proportions in June when Iraqi officials aboard U.N. helicopters prevented the weapons inspectors from landing at specific sites, endangering all on board. Iraq also denied the team access to three sites designated for inspection and refused to allow the team to interview Iraqi personnel. There were six serious incidents in a two-week period at the end of September, according to UNSCOM Chairman Richard Butler. Butler also told the council that despite Iraq's cooperation on several aspects of the plan to destroy all the banned weapons programs, UNSCOM still has serious concerns that not all prohibited chemical, biological, and ballistic weapons have been accounted for and disposed. In the past six months, UNSCOM has encountered "a pattern of Iraqi blockages and evidence of removal and/or destruction of documents and material at 'sensitive sites' under inspection," Butler said. The written report from Butler released earlier in October said that UNSCOM "strongly believes that relevant materials and documents remain in Iraq and that there have been highly coordinated actions designed to mislead the commission." Despite Iraq's cooperation, UNSCOM still has serious concerns that not all prohibited weapons have been accounted for and disposed of, Butler said. He reported "there have been occasions where Iraq's actions have included: delay in granting access to designated inspection sites, concealment and destruction of documents, failure to abide by the requirements of sensitive site inspection modalities, efforts to conceal ongoing activities at sites under monitoring by the commission and delays in the provision of Iraqi counterparts."
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