18 February 1998
UN SECURITY COUNCIL GIVES ANNAN STRONG SEND-OFF TO BAGHDAD
(Diplomacy nearly exhausted, trip could be the last) (1180) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- With the strong endorsement of all members of the UN Security Council, including the United States and Britain February 18, Secretary General Kofi Annan prepared to leave on a last ditch diplomatic mission to get Baghdad to cooperate with the UN Commission overseeing the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Asking for "support and prayers," Annan said he is leaving for Baghdad later in the week on "a difficult mission coming at a very critical juncture" with the full support of all Security Council members. Speaking with journalists after a private meeting with the Council, Annan said "I am happy that on this issue and at this critical stage the unanimity of the Council has been reestablished and that they are behind what I am going to Baghdad to do." The Secretary General added that his is encouraged that the "message coming from Baghdad" is that Iraqi officials "are prepared to engage me constructively to find a solution." U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson said that "the United States wishes the Secretary General well. We wish him Godspeed. He's got a difficult mission....Diplomacy is nearly exhausted and the Secretary General's efforts could be among the last, if not the last." The Secretary General has "the full support of the United States to succeed," Richardson said he told Annan during the Council meeting. Nevertheless, the ambassador repeated the warning he issued days ago after meeting with the Secretary General: "The United States feels very strongly that there should be no deals, no compromises." "The United States reserves the right to oppose any arrangement that does not protect Security Council resolutions and what we perceive as America's national interest," Richardson said. "Any nation state can make that statement," he added. "We are fully supportive of the Secretary General. We are fully supportive of a diplomatic solution. But at the same time we have to make sure that Security Council resolutions are observed, that there be no deals that Iraq will try to undoubtedly propose," Richardson said. "The Secretary General goes with the full support of the Security Council. He's very skilled, he's very good....but it's up to Iraq to comply," the ambassador said. "The odds are up to Saddam Hussein." "If Iraq does not comply there are going to be some very, very serious consequences," Richardson said. The clear goal of the Secretary General, Richardson said, must be to enforce the Security Council's Gulf War cease-fire resolution; secure free, unconditional, unfettered access to all sites by U.N. inspectors; and maintain the integrity and professionalism of the U.N. Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM). UNSCOM must not be politicized, he said. "No deals regarding UNSCOM." The ambassador said that the five permanent members of the Council "gave unanimous oral advice to the Secretary General basically supportive not just of Security Council resolutions, but what is American policy" The message from the permanent five, Richardson said, was "clear unfettered access to all sites, the inviolability of UNSCOM and strict adherence to Security Council resolutions....We all wished him well; we support his mission; we hope it succeeds." "We hope to have a resolution, but we believe very strongly that there should be no deals or compromises that compromise any of those three elements," the ambassador said. "Saddam Hussein doesn't seem to listen. The Secretary General is making one honest effort and we are supporting that," Richardson said. "The problem is not the Secretary General. The problem is not the Security Council. The problem is Iraq," the ambassador said, citing the time limits, deadlines, and conditions on weapons inspections Iraqi officials have tried to impose that has brought on the current crisis. "Iraq has failed to comply and the whole focus has been on others rather than Iraq's compliance," the ambassador added. Richardson recalled President Clinton's statement in a speech February 17 saying that "there has to be some responsibility for preserving the lives of future generations of children." "Here is an individual who is building and developing weapons of mass destruction -- anthrax, mustard gas, all types of poison and he must be stopped," Richardson said. "The best way to stop him is diplomatically through international law." Annan met with the full 15-member Council after a week of separate meetings with the five permanent members of the Council and another meeting with the ten non-permanent members. The permanent five -- China, France, Great Britain Russia and the United States -- arrived at "collective advice" on the basic points to which Iraq must agree regarding weapons inspections in order to avert the growing possibility of air strikes by the United States. The non-permanent members are Bahrain, Brazil, Costa Rica, Gabon, Gambia, Japan, Kenya, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden. The Secretary General also said he has "a very constructive discussion" with President Clinton. Clinton "knows what I am trying to do and the President is repeating, as others have done, that they would prefer a diplomatic solution," Annan said. Annan did not ask the Council for a mandate or permission to go to Baghdad, but instead has sought to get support and guidance for a "good offices" mission that he has the authority to undertake under the U.N. Charter. He sought the basics for a deal with the Iraqis that would have chance of being accepted by all members of the Council, especially the permanent five who have veto power over any U.N. actions regarding Iraq. The Secretary General has said repeatedly that he would not undertake the trip unless it was "prepared very carefully" both at U.N. headquarters and Baghdad. Annan said that he has the ingredients of "a deal" but would not give the details saying only that the Council told him to "be firm in substance and show flexibility in form." Annan is scheduled to leave New York February 19 with a stop in Paris to meet with French President Jacques Chirac. He expects to be in Baghdad February 20 and return to U.N. headquarters about February 23. Accompanying the Secretary General are Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, a former foreign minister of Algeria and currently the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan; Ambassador Johan Molander of the Swedish Foreign Ministry; U.N. Undersecretary General for Legal Affairs Hans Corell, Rolf Knutsson, director of the Secretary General's office; Executive Assistants Elizabeth Lindenmayer and Shashi Tharoor; and spokesman Fred Eckhard. After the meeting with Annan, UN Security Council President Denis Dangue Rewaka of Gabon said that the Security Council "expresses its full support and its complete confidence in his ability to find a way and means of resolving the crisis relating to the United Nations inspections in Iraq." "The Security Council gives its full support to the Secretary General's mission because his success would have a real impact on the implementation of United Nations resolutions by Iraq," the President said in a statement to the press.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
