12 January 1998
UN SECRETARY GENERAL ANNAN URGES IRAQ NOT TO BAN AMERICAN
(Iraq heading for another confrontation with UNSCOM) (550) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Secretary General Kofi Annan January 12 urged Iraq not to take "precipitous action" by preventing a U.N. weapons inspection team led by an American from completing its work. The Secretary General made the comment at a news conference announcing the appointment of the first ever Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, former Canadian Ambassador to the U.N. Louise Frechette. Asked about Iraq's threat to block an inspection planned for January 13, Annan said that he hopes "Iraqi authorities will not do anything precipitous and wait for Richard Butler to get there." UNSCOM Chairman Richard Butler was in Baghdad in December and had scheduled another visit for January 19-21. "My advice to them would be to wait and discuss these issues with him and not take any precipitous action," Annan said. Iraq threatened January 12 to ban a 16-member team sent by the U.N. Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraq's weapons (UNSCOM) from carrying out an inspection because it is led by an American employee of UNSCOM, Scott Ritter. On previous occasions Iraq has accused Ritter of spying for the United States. The team, which is made up of nine Americans, five Britons, an Australian and a Russian, is to begin its work January 13. Iraqi officials said that they will not allow the inspection to take place unless the team was "recomposed in a manner that would ensure balance," an UNSCOM spokesman said. Iraq has also said that it would not allow Ritter "to undertake any activities on its territory starting from" January 12, according to an announcement by the Iraqi news agency. Iraq set off a major confrontation with the U.N. Security Council in November when Saddam Hussein ordered all American employees of UNSCOM out of the country and refused to allow any inspections using Americans. UNSCOM, which maintains that its employees and inspectors are not representatives of their governments but international civil servants chosen because of their expertise as scientists and weapons experts, refused to continue its work until it was allowed to send in whomever it wished. UNSCOM operations were shut down for three weeks. After Russia brokered an agreement with Baghdad, UNSCOM inspections were resumed in December and have continued without incident until Baghdad's January 12 announcement. Nevertheless Baghdad has continued to prevent the U.N. from inspecting areas which it calls presidential palaces and sensitive sites. UNSCOM has maintained that it must conduct inspections at many of those sites to insure that banned chemical and biological weapons and long-range ballistic missiles or parts have not been hidden there in contravention of the Gulf war cease-fire agreement. Butler was expected to press for access to the presidential sites during his upcoming visit. The Secretary General noted that UNSCOM teams have been able to do their work since December without incident. "This is the first hiccup," he said. The UNSCOM spokesman said that Butler was drafting a letter to officially inform the Security Council, whose President for the month of January is French Ambassador Alain Dejammet, of Iraq's actions.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
