UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT
JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE BY
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN
AND HIS EXCELLENCY DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF IRAQ
TAREQ AZIZ
Baghdad, 23 February 1998
10.55am
Secretary-General: I am pleased to announce that after detailed and intensive discussions with the Iraqi authorities culminating in a meeting with President Saddam Hussein on Sunday afternoon I have concluded an agreement with the Government of Iraq on the issue of the United Nations weapon inspections. In my view the terms of this agreement which have been concluded in writing are acceptable and remove a major obstacle to the full implementation of relevant Security Council Resolutions. I will soon report to the Security Council, immediately upon my return to New York on Tuesday. I would like to thank His Excellency President Saddam Hussein and the Government of Iraq for the good will, cooperation and courtesy extended to my delegation and myself during the last few days. The Deputy Prime Minister, His Excellency Mr. Tareq Aziz, and his senior colleagues have worked very hard for the last two days and I should say I would like to address my sincere appreciation for their efforts at arriving at this agreement. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Deputy Prime Minister: Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say that at the beginning of the arrival of His Excellency the Secretary General of the United Nations, I welcomed him and his mission and his delegation on behalf of the Government of Iraq and as he reported to you we had constructive, intensive, objective discussions about the purpose of his mission. We highly appreciate the nature of the discussions we had, the understanding we reached and as His Excellency said, we have indeed reached a final agreement on the question we discussed. We also agreed that we will continue our cooperation with His Excellency the Secretary-General and with the United Nations in order to achieve the common objective and as far as Iraq is concerned as everybody knows that the priority for the Iraqi people and the Iraq Government is an expeditious implementation of paragraph 22 of Resolution 687 and the lifting all sanctions. We are going to work together in good faith and cooperation and we hope that this humanitarian, legal and objective of lifting of the sanctions will be done very soon.
Qu. [Would you say that the threat of military force was a help or hindrance ?]
Deputy Prime Minister: When I was at the beginning of the crisis in New York in November, I made it quite clear that the military build up in the Gulf does not scare the people and the leadership of Iraq. What helped in reaching this agreement between the Secretary-General, my President and the Iraqi Government is that the good will involved, not the American or the British build up in the Gulf and not the policy of sabre rattling. It was diplomacy, wise, balanced United Nations world diplomacy that enabled us to reach that agreement. Not the sabre rattling policy.
Secretary-General: Let me say that I think lots of effort have gone into what we are celebrating here today, if I may use that word. Many leaders around the world and in this region, and ordinary people, have asked us to give diplomacy a chance. You can do a lot with diplomacy but of course you can do a lot more with diplomacy backed up by fairness and force. So what elements went into it, there were plenty of elements but the most important thing is that today we have an agreement, so let's look forward and move on.
Qu. [As the Secretary General how you can give assurance that the [US] will comply with the agreement you have reached given that they have a history of not respecting UN resolutions?]
Secretary-General: Well, let me say, without getting into the polemics, let me say that the agreement that I have reached with the Government of Iraq, I consider balanced and I consider that it is in conformity with the Security Council Resolutions. It is in conformity in terms of spirit, and in terms of the intent and therefore I hope it will be acceptable to all members of the Council.
Qu.: [Is this a climb down by the Iraqi Government?]
Deputy Prime Minister: No this is an agreement of reason and as the Secretary-General said, it's balanced and it is in conformity with UN Resolutions and as I have said and reiterated thousands of times that Iraq has no problem with the United Nations Resolutions, the problem is how they are implemented. If they are implemented in good faith, in a balanced manner along the spirit and the letter of the Charter of the United Nations, we have no problem with that. And our work, together with the Secretary-General, he represents the United Nations, he has the mandate according to the Charter. Within this atmosphere, we didn't have a problem, a serious problem reaching an agreement although some time was needed in order to reach a better arrangement.
Qu.: [Do you think the US has the right to refuse what has been agreed on?]
Secretary-General: I think we have had constructive discussions and successful discussions, otherwise we wouldn't be here this morning. I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to speak for any member of the Council; the US, like other Council members, will express its opinion when the report is presented.
Qu.: [Have you had telephone conversations with Mrs. Albright and is the US reserving the right to accept the deal.]
Secretary-General: Let me say that the United States, or for that matter, other Council members have neither accepted nor rejected this deal, they have not seen it, they will have it tomorrow and I will have discussions with them in Near York. This is the process, what we are doing today is the major step and as I have said, it's a good agreement and I am hopeful that the Council will accept it.
Qu.: [What has Iraq substantially gained out of this crisis and whether you feel that from GOI perspective you can trust UNSCOM who have been mistrusted for so long?]
Deputy Prime Minister: First of all, I think what we have achieved with the Secretary-General is a correct balanced manner to reach the truth. There were a lot of allegations and fabrications and dramatisations about the situation regarding Iraq on the question of disarmament. The agreement we reached with the Secretary-General is going to enable everybody, the United Nations, the Security Council, the international public opinion, enable them to reach the truth and the truth will tell the legendary purposes of Iraq as well as the legitimate purpose of the United Nations. I'm not going to comment now on the presence of the Secretary General or on the nature of individuals. Individuals don't change their nature overnight but we are going to work with the Secretary-General and with the Security Council in good faith in order to prove the truth so that will help the Iraqi people to get rid of sanctions.
Secretary-General: Iraq and UNSCOM have had difficult relations at times. Those men and women working in UNSCOM have a difficult task. From Richard Butler right down. It is a task that regardless of whoever, there will be some difficulties. What is important for us is to work out practical, effective, instrumental relationships together. Mr. Butler will continue to do his work but I think that what we are discussing here is better and enhanced cooperation between Iraq and the UNSCOM inspectors.
Qu.: [How close do you think we are from lifting sanctions?]
Secretary-General: I'm not sure I'm in a position to answer that question because that will be determined by the completion of the work of UNSCOM and the Atomic Agency. When and how soon they will complete it I cannot say, but I would hope that the way we have discussed this problem, our determination to improve relations, to enhance the work of UNSCOM and accelerate the process, we will be seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
Qu.: [What do you make about the possibility of war while there are US forces in the Gulf?]
Secretary-General: I think a lot will depend on what happens when I get to New York after the Council has discussed my report. If they are convinced that we have a serious credible agreement that is in conformity with all Security Council Resolutions I would hope that this will settle the issue.
Qu. [Are there any time limits of future inspections to take place?]
Secretary-General: I can say categorically that there are no time limits or deadlines in the agreement. Having said that, I think it is important the we try to do our work within a reasonable period.
Qu. [Can Iraq see the light at the end of the tunnel?(Arabic interpretation)]
Deputy Prime Minister: I think Iraq has achieved a great deal and it has had an opportunity to discuss it's case, just case before the whole world and the United Nations in the shape of the Secretary General. We are not fearful of the truth. The agreement we have reached with the SecretaryGeneral will prove the truth that has been previously presented by Iraq and will also show the lies and exaggeration regarding the situation. This is a great victory and it will show the arrangement we will be implementing shortly. That the accusations against Iraq, that is, its incompletion of procedures of Resolution 687 that Iraq has completed all these procedures. It is its right to demand lifting of sanctions and this certainly will help the situation. (Arabic interpretation)
Qu.: [Could you tell us whether there will be any points in coming days and weeks that will demonstrate that Iraq will comply with the agreement. Iraq has, in the past, signed agreements but not carried out the contents. This concerns the US.]
Secretary-General: We have negotiated this agreement in good faith. The Iraqi side was very serious and very frank in our discussions. I am hopeful, perhaps even confident, that this agreement will take us beyond the crisis and I would hope that the terms we have agreed on - questions of access, questions of inspections and all the things we are going to do are implemented respectfully and carefully. There will be no need for us to come back to this and this will be my hope and I have the understanding from the Iraqi authorities that they will carry out their part of the bargain and that the UNSCOM inspectors and the UN sanctions should also be sensitive to the concerns as to the dignity, security and sovereignty and I have no problem.
Qu.: [(In Arabic) You have had a very long discussion with President Saddam Hussein. What is your impression of President Saddam Hussein and do you believe that at the end of the mission you will eliminate war from the region? (interpreted from Arabic)]
Secretary-General: I had a very good discussion with the President and we had good contact and the discussions were very, very frank and at the end of it as you can see we did come to an agreement. The President was very well informed and was in full control of the facts. I was grateful to him that we were frank, constructive and at the end were determined to settle this issue diplomatically. My message to the young people around the world, is that in today's world which is rather inter-dependent, we need to be sensitive to the concerns of others, we need to understand other cultures, we need to think in much broader terms than our narrow confines and realise that in this inter-dependent world, no one can afford to think in purely local terms and really look beyond our narrow boundaries or confines.
Qu: [Does this accord cover the so-called sovereign sites?]
Deputy Prime Minister: Secretary-General and I agreed that we are not going to address details. We are only talking about the basic principles of the agreement and we all would prefer to leave the details until after the Secretary-General arrives in New York and briefs the Security Council.
Qu: [Iraq had planned to open the Iraqi presidential sites, this time you have waited for a long time. Is this a diplomatic victory for Iraq?(Arabic interpretation)]
Deputy Prime Minister: Since 26 November 1997, Iraq presented a proposal, a balanced proposal, to visit these Presidential sites by representatives of the international community. The principle is accepted by Iraq from the very beginning. We have nothing to hide in these sites, these are the sites of the Iraqi people and government. We should have organised procedures reasonable and to be accepted by the Security Council. What the Secretary-General brought with him was a discussion and arrangement and this ... (Arabic interpretation)
Qu.: [You spoke to Madeleine Albright twice. What kind of encouragement do you have from her that this agreement will work?]
Secretary-General: First of all, I did not seek encouragement or otherwise. We did talk about the status of the discussions and how we were likely to end up and then last time I spoke to her we do have a text that I'll be signing today. She did have some questions which I addressed and we will be talking further when I get back to New York.
Qu. [Were you encouraged by your discussion? ]
Secretary-General: I think that I've answered your question.
Qu: [Can we say that the visit of the Secretary General to Baghdad means the end of the crisis between Iraq and the UN and the US? How do you see the future relationship between Iraq and UNSCOM? (interpreted from Arabic)]
Deputy Prime Minister: In fact there was no crisis between Iraq and the UN. Evidenced by the fact of the agreement we have just reached with the Secretary General and the positive atmosphere and constructive atmosphere which was the essence of this discussion. The crisis is with the US who is trying to impose its will on the US. For Iraq this is not acceptable. The future relationship with UNSCOM will be determined by it's behaviour. So, if it behaves as an international organisation of the UN according to international procedures adopted by other UN organisations, then we have no problem. In Iraq, currently, there is a large number of international organisations as part of the UN and we are cooperating with them completely and we have no problem with them or their representatives.
Qu: [Iraq has said it would never allow inspection of presidential palaces and now you are allowing these inspections to take place...]
Deputy Prime Minister: First of all you don't know what we have agreed on and don't rush to conclusions .
Qu: [What are the consequences if the agreement is broken? ]
Secretary-General: I did not come here with ultimatums as the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
I think we are concentrating on the agreement we have signed today and where we go from here.
Qu : [How reliable do you judge ... Government of Iraq?]
Secretary-General: I think I have answered that question already. I have indicated to you that given the kinds of understanding agreement and the atmosphere in which we reached that agreement If we implement the things we have agreed to , I am sure we will not have any difficulties. I think your concern is , the import of your question is, are we going to be back at this same situation in a similar crisis three months, six months from now. We went through all this and I genuinely believe we will cooperate and do the kinds of things we have agreed to do. We will not see that kind of crisis. That is the answer I will give you. We in the UN are determined to work constructively and respectively with the Iraqis and the Government of Iraq. They on their side have the same undertaking and are now determined to work with us in implementing all ,relevant Security Council resolutions. I think that that is a very good outcome. I'm confident that if we really stick to it we will succeed. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
Deputy Prime Minister: As regards the question raised by the British newspaper, The Observer - I would like to say that in the history of this region, in the history of the Arab world since the first world war, it has been established in history that the successive British governments did not commit themselves to the promises they made to the Arab nations. ???They were the most government in this world who has??? backed down against the commitments it made to the Arabs including the Iraqis. They changed their policies, they did not respect their commitments. This is history.
Secretary-General: Before we break I want to thank those governments around the world who have really contributed to the success of this event. There are many leaders who made strenuous efforts to make this happen in this region, and in Europe there were millions also out there who were praying for a diplomatic solution. We thank those all who wished us well, we thank those who prayed for us. You can never under-estimate the power of prayer. Today we have succeeded and I hope this agreement will hold and we will not have to be back discussing this kind of issue again. Thank you all very much and have a good day.
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