30 January 1998
DIPLOMATS PRESSING IRAQ TO COOPERATE WITH THE UNITED NATIONS
(Kinkel thinks "Saddam Hussein has something to hide") (670) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel says "Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to dance on the nose of the United Nations and the international community." He made the statement after his January 30 meeting with Richard Butler, Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) charged with overseeing the destruction of Iraq's chemical, biological, nuclear, and ballistic weapons of mass destruction. "It appears that Saddam Hussein has something to hide," Kinkel said, "otherwise he would behave differently. From the outset the Iraqi leadership has tried to evade its obligations by tricks and threats." Iraq, he said, "at present, demonstrates a particular stubbornness" by not allowing inspections for mass destruction weapons to be carried out in eight presidential palaces and surrounding areas. The Foreign Minister met with Butler as diplomats around the world and at U.N. headquarters in New York discussed what should be done to get Iraq to comply with provisions of the ceasefire agreement it signed at the end of the Gulf War relating to elimination of its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson met in Stockholm with Swedish leaders. He told a January 30 press briefing that he thinks "there is general agreement that the time for diplomacy has all but run out and that Iraq cannot be permitted to violate the will of the international community with impunity." According to Richardson, the U.S. point of view is that "we are reaching a point at which diplomatic options for obtaining Iraq's cooperation with UNSCOM are rapidly becoming exhausted." However, at the United Nations, while Russian and Chinese diplomats endorsed the principle that Iraq must cooperate with UNSCOM, they also spoke out strongly for continuing diplomatic efforts to obtain Iraqi compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding weapons inspections. Noting that Russia, Turkey, and France are "particularly well suited" to influence Iraq diplomatically, Kinkel said "the German Government believes that everything must be done to solve this recurrent problem by political and diplomatic means." But, he added, "we have had numerous telephone conversations and talks with European leaders and we also agreed that, if these (political and diplomatic) means do not lead to any results, military action can, of course, not be excluded." He blamed Iraq for the increased tensions and added that "in many respects, this leadership also takes its own people as hostage." Germany has provided substantial political, personnel, and material support to UNSCOM since its creation in 1991. While it was a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 1995 and 1996, Germany held the chairmanship of the Council's Iraqi sanctions committee. The upcoming technical talks between Iraq and UNSCOM on chemical weapons, including VX nerve gas, will be led by a German scientist, Dr. Horst Reeb. UNSCOM chief Butler said that "there is a very simple solution" to the crisis. "It may sound simple, but I do not mean it to sound simplistic. We had a discussion about the concept of cooperation. What is called for by the Security Council from Iraq is cooperation," he said. The remaining disarmament tasks can be done quickly, Butler said, "if Iraq would simply offer the cooperation the Council has asked for. So, if I have any message in this present difficult day it is ... this does not have to be a crisis." He said he is "mystified" by Baghdad's current rigid stand after the progress made thus far in the weapons control and destruction effort. Responding to criticism of his published comments regarding Iraq's biological warfare potential, Butler said "I was not saying that I knew or predicted that Iraq would attack Tel Aviv (with biological weapons). No way, I do not have that knowledge," Butler said. "What is really at issue is that there is a number of Iraqi special warheads that remain unaccounted for."
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