30 October 1997
U.S. WANTS IRAQ TO REVERSE DECISION 'UNCONDITIONALLY, IMMEDIATELY'
(Riedel outlines U.S. position at Foreign Press Center) (600) By George S. Hishmeh USIA Staff Writer Washington -- A senior White House aide said October 30 that the United States wants Iraq to "unconditionally and immediately" reverse its decision barring Americans from a U.N. Weapons inspection team. The American position was spelled out by Bruce Riedel, a special assistant to President Clinton and senior director for Near East and South Asia Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House. Iraq's decision to bar the American members of the U.N. inspection team, he continued, "is clearly new evidence of Iraqi disregard for the international community and for the rule of law in the international community." He pointed out that it has been 2,000 days since the U.N. Security Council had given the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein 15 days to give "a full, final and complete declaration" on its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles programs. Saying Iraq remains willing to use these weapons, Riedel added, "This kind of government cannot be allowed out of the box in which it put itself in the Gulf war. It needs to be constrained, it cannot be allowed to develop an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and again threaten the countries of the region." Riedel repeated the American position that these Iraqi restrictions are "completely unacceptable" and reminded his audience at the Foreign Press Center here that there was a unanimous decision in this respect taken by the U.N. Security Council on October 29. He underlined that the Clinton Administration does not consider the Iraqi action an attack on the United States but "an attack on the United Nations and the very fundamentals of the U.N. system, and the regime that was created after the Gulf war." Riedel refused to discuss the options before the Clinton Administration and discounted a suggestion that this development may affect Arab attendance at the Middle East/North Africa economic conference, which is scheduled to open in Qatar on November 16. He assured a questioner that the Clinton Administration is at present undertaking consultations with various governments, including those in the Middle East. He noted that Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Martin Indyk was at present making a tour of various Arab countries after his recent confirmation and Riedel was certain that these developments will be on his agenda when he visits the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. In reply to another question, he said there is no schedule yet for a meeting between President Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the latter visits the United States next month. After noting that trilateral talks are scheduled to begin in Washington next week between the United States, the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Riedel emphasized that the Clinton Administration is eager to proceed with the peace process. He said: "The United States would like to see all the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority resumed. We have for sometime been talking about a sense of urgency, that sitting in place is not good enough. We also would like to see the other tracks of the peace process (with Syria and Lebanon) resumed once again."
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