24 November 1997
SECURITY COUNCIL WATCHING IRAQI ACTIONS AS UNSCOM INSPECTS
(Richardson: crisis eased but not over)®MDIN¯ ®MDNM¯(1060) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- After several days of both technical and political meetings on Iraq's weapons programs, diplomats and scientists alike are waiting to see if Iraq holds to its agreement to permit U.N. weapons inspectors unconditional access to suspected weapons sites. As the standoff between the Security Council and Iraq was defused November 20 and U.N. weapons inspectors returned to their work in Iraq, a new round of meetings took place at U.N. headquarters designed to ensure that Iraq meets to U.N. satisfaction its Gulf War cease-fire obligations on the destruction of chemical, biological, ballistic and nuclear weapons. What the council needs to do in the coming days and weeks, U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson said November 22 is "to see if Iraq provides complete access to all inspectors at all sites." "We need...to assess the damage done by Iraq to the monitoring system and, secondly, we need to press Iraq with its obligations to give unconditional access to sites, to documents, and all officials," the ambassador said. "The crisis has eased but its not over," Richardson added. "Iraq may try another trick again soon." "Let's see also if the Iraqis permit free landing of both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft...Let's see if the Iraqis allow aerial night surveillance," Richardson said referring to recommendations made by a special meeting of commissioners of UNSCOM (United Nations Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons). A special UNSCOM emergency session of the 20 commissioners ended near midnight November 22 with the adoption of a report emphasizing that Iraq's cooperation will determine when UNSCOM completes its work. "The effectiveness and the speed with which the commission may accomplish its responsibilities is, above all, determined by the degree to which the Government of Iraq cooperates in disclosing the full extent and disposition of its proscribed programs and in granting the commission unimpeded access to sites, documents, and records the commission wishes to inspect and to individuals required for interview," the commissioners said in an eight-page report to the council. The commission, which is made up of weapons experts from 20 nations, reviewed the work of its inspectors in Iraq and recommended ways that UNSCOM can improve its work. It called for more flights, including night surveillance flights; documentation of Iraqi efforts to frustrate UNSCOM's work; additional monitoring equipment; more training for weapons inspectors; and training on sanctions reporting for governments trading with Iraq. "The members of the commission emphasize that access -- immediate, unconditional and unrestricted -- is absolutely fundamental to its ability to accomplish any of its tasks.... Failure by Iraq to conform to (Security Council) resolutions, and to grant access, has impeded the disarmament process and the conduct of the commission's work in other respects," the UNSCOM report said. The commissioners reviewed and supported last months's report to the council by UNSCOM Executive Chairman Richard Butler which highlighted major problem areas. Biological weapons are "the most serious and persistent area where Iraq has disregarded its obligations to the United Nations," the report said. "The members of the commission note that the paucity of progress is largely attributable to Iraq's denial of the existence of such a program until June 1995." The report said regarding chemical weapons, four issues remain to be solved: accounting for special warheads for the Al Hussein missiles, the extent of Iraqi efforts to produce and weaponize the chemical warfare agent VX, the "material balance of chemical munitions" Iraq said it destroyed during the gulf war, and the amount of production equipment. The commissioners suggested that Butler "assess the extent to which the temporary cessation of UNSCOM's operations, caused by Iraqi decisions, has set back its ability to complete its mandate and make this clear" in his next report to the Security Council. "The United States is very pleased with this balanced report. It's based on technical expertise and not political pressure," the U.S. ambassador said. "This report shows that there have been no deals, no concessions, no carrots for Iraq." The main message from this report is that Iraq must comply with Security Council resolutions and give UNSCOM unconditional access to sites, officials and documents as required by Security Council resolutions, the ambassador said. The Unites States supports the commissioners' recommendations on how to strengthen the effectiveness of UNSCOM, he added. "This is a devastating report for Iraq," Richardson said. "They tried to divide the council, they tried to politicize UNSCOM, that hasn't happened." This report, he said, "indicates that Iraq's tactics have backfired on them The result of this whole exercise is going to be a stronger UNSCOM." The conclusions of UNSCOM's emergency session "vindicate" the positions taken by the council, especially the five permanent members, the U.S. ambassador said. Richardson pointed out that the UNSCOM report said problems remain in accounting for seven missiles and concerns remain on Iraq's indigenous long range missile research, development, and production. "Nowhere is there recommendation that these missiles and nuclear files be closed. On the contrary," Richardson said. "On the concealment issue, Iraq's systematic efforts to conceal aspects of every one of the weapons categories means that UNSCOM and IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) cannot do their job," the ambassador said. "There is no evidence whatsoever that would suggest that Iraq deserves sanctions to be lifted," Richardson noted. "Russia deserves credit for being the vehicle for the positive outcome that enabled the inspectors to get back to work," Richardson noted. Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said November 24 that "the message for Iraq is the same as it was from the very beginning: That Iraq must comply fully with all relevant resolutions. At the same time the commission clearly recommended that UNSCOM methods of work must be improved." Butler told journalists that during his follow-up meeting with the council on November 24 he highlighted "truth, access, mobility and a top-class professional staff." "The commission has said that's what we need," the UNSCOM chairman said. "We continue to need Iraq to allow us to go anywhere, any place, and do our work," he said. "A fundamental need that the commissioners identified is that Iraq tell us the whole the truth. There is no substitute for the whole truth." UNSCOM's U-2 flights will continue, Butler said.
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