14 January 1998
UNSC DEMANDS THAT IRAQ COOPERATE WITH WEAPONS INSPECTIONS
(Albright to discuss issue with UNSC's Perm Five) (880) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- The United Nations Security Council declared January 14 that Iraq's refusal to cooperate with a group of U.N. weapons inspectors was "unacceptable and a clear violation" of the Council's Gulf War cease-fire demands. Issuing a formal presidential statement, which requires the unanimous agreement of all its 15 members, the Council deplored Iraq's failure to cooperate with the Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM) and condemns the attempts by Iraq to try to dictate the terms on which the U.N. conducts the inspections. The Council also expressed its full support for UNSCOM and its executive chairman, Ambassador Richard Butler. Butler is slated to have talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad January 19-21. The issues he'll be discussing include those of UNSCOM access to presidential and sovereign sites and the problem of Baghdad's insistence to remove from U.N. teams certain inspectors on the basis of their nationality. The Council asked Butler to give it a full briefing "as soon as possible after they have taken place, so that it can decide as necessary on an appropriate response." The statement was issued in response to Iraqi's refusal to cooperate with a group of U.N. inspectors headed by a chief UNSCOM inspector, Scott Ritter, who is an American. U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson noted that "once again the U.N. Security Council has spoken in a united, strong fashion." "What has been shown here is that Russian and China and the United States, Great Britain and France and the ten other members of the Security Council...are speaking in a united, concerted fashion," the ambassador said. "The United States is pleased that the text of the presidential statement...It's another -- a forth in a row -- unmistakable signal to Iraq that what they've done is unacceptable and that they must reverse course," Richardson said. "The language is clear. It deplores the Iraqi decision, finds their initiatives unacceptable and, in addition, states very clearly the will of the U.N. Security Council: full and unconditional access to all sites and any sites," he said. Most important, the ambassador said, is the statement "arms Ambassador Butler and the U.N. inspection team with strength and credibility as Ambassador Butler goes to Baghdad to try to resolve this crisis." Secretary of State Albright is scheduled to meet with Secretary General Kofi Annan, representatives of the other four permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Great Britain, and Russia) and other major U.N. delegations at a dinner hosted by the secretary general the evening of January 14. Richardson said that at the dinner "Albright will raise Iraq. This is a very important issue." The ambassador said that the United States wants "to solve this diplomatically, but we will not hesitate to use military action. That is a decision the President would have to make, but we want to exhaust all diplomatic and other peace initiatives." In answer to a question Richardson said that his "optimism is waning considerably" that the diplomatic efforts will succeed. "I think the world community's optimism is waning too. My patience is wearing thin but we should not abandon diplomacy. The Council sent a very strong peace message. It's going to be up to Iraq to abide or not to abide and then face the consequences," he said. "The entire Security Council is loosing patience....I think the international community is loosing patience," Richardson said. "But this is not a fight between Iraq and the United States. This is a fight that Iraq is picking against the international community, against the United Nations, against mankind that deserves better than being exposed to chemical and biological weapons," he said. Asked about Iraq's continuing disregard for the Council's statements while the Council issues more statements, Richardson said that "diplomacy is playing its course." "Diplomacy is being used to the maximum extent by the U.N. Security Council. Our objective is to resolve this issue diplomatically," he said. "I can't predict what Iraq will do next. Iraq is continuing to defy the international community. The costs are going to be high for them unless they comply with full, unconditional access," the ambassador said. "Right now the international community is aghast at the weapons of mass destruction that exist and...are being discovered by U.N. inspectors," Richardson added. "When the international community hears that there's poison gas and anthrax and that there's biological weapons and there's chemical weapons there's a very negative reaction." "Iraq is decisively loosing this battle," he said. In its statement the Council also referred to other decisions it has taken in the past several months after other disputes with Iraq over UNSCOM inspections. On October 29 the Council condemned Baghdad's decision to bar American U.N. weapons inspectors from Iraq and warned of "serious consequences" if it did not allow the U.N. to operate as it sees fit. Resolution 1137, passed November 12, also condemns Iraq's attempts to impose conditions on UNSCOM operations and imposed travel restrictions on all Iraqi officials and members of the Iraqi armed forces who participate in blocking UNSCOM operations.
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