16 April 1998
ANNAN: UNSCOM VISITS TO PRESIDENTIAL SITES HAVE NO TIME LIMIT
(UNSCOM warns Iraqis may try to limit visits) (1280) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Secretary General Kofi Annan said April 16 that the agreement he negotiated with Iraq on U.N. inspections of the so-called presidential compounds allows weapons inspectors to "go again and to go back again." At a press conference, Annan was asked to comment on the warning by the chief inspector of the U.N. Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM) that Iraqi officials may be intending to limit the number of presidential site inspections. The secretary general pointed out that the agreement he negotiated in February on the presidential site inspections was with President Saddam Hussein and was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. "I would hope that if there were going to be a change in policy it will come from that level and the same source," Annan said. "We need to be very careful not to jump to conclusions each time an Iraqi official makes a statement. We will need to sort of test it, verify it, and make sure if this is the intention or real decision of the government." "So far things have gone well and we hope that they will continue to cooperate" he said of the first UNSCOM inspections of the presidential sites. "I have had no official communication from the government that they are ending their cooperation with the U.N." The secretary general said "the agreement allows UNSCOM to go again and to go back again and so it was not time-specific for one time only." "In fact, it was on that issue that we spent more time trying to thrash it out until we got an agreement with the president himself," Annan recalled of his negotiations. UNSCOM's report to the Security Council April 15 described Iraqi cooperation as "satisfactory," but reported that Iraqi officials involved in the inspection suggested that UNSCOM visits to the so-called presidential sites would be for a limited period only. Referring to comments made by Oil Minister Lt. General Amer Rashid during the inspections that Iraq had agreed to only a process of "finite duration," the head of the UNSCOM team said "the fundamental issue of continuing access is by no means solved and has only been postponed to the future." "On balance, the mission was successful but it was apparent that some key issues will arise again in the not too distant future and the (Security) Council should be prepared to face them when they arise," said team leader Charles Duelfer. "Certainly the matter of continuing access is unsettled and will ultimately re-emerge as the Iraqi side clearly feels that the phrase in the 23 February Memorandum of Understanding referring to 'initial and subsequent visits' means for a limited period only," Duelfer said. In addition, UNSCOM reported that while the level of cooperation by the Iraqis allowed the mission to be completed, there were some denials which were "not deemed essential for the present mission" but could pose problems later on. Duelfer, deputy UNSCOM director, led a team of 71 inspectors from 17 countries and a joint mission of 14 experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The inspections -- which produced a baseline survey establishing location, general purpose, and a general understanding of most of the more than 1,000 buildings with the eight sites -- were conducted from March 25 to April 4. During the inspections, an "extraordinarily large number" of Iraqi officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, were present, slowing the work, UNSCOM reported. "The organization of convoys of the 25 or so U.N. vehicles and the 40 to 50 or more Iraqi vehicles was difficult," Duelfer said. "Convoys at times exceeded a kilometer in length" and in the buildings the ratio of Iraqis to inspectors was often five to one or greater. "At times, inspectors asked minders to remain outside the buildings as the crowds inhibited serious work," he said. Duelfer said the mission was not intended to be a search for prohibited weapons or relations materials and none was found. "In fact, there was very little equipment, documentation, or other material in the sites at all. It was clearly apparent that all sites had undergone extensive evacuation." Iraq had more than one month from the time the agreement was signed with Annan on February 23 until the experts arrived to prepare for the inspections. Most buildings were emptied of contents and there were limited documents and few computers at some government facilities such as the Presidential Diwan; the Republican Palace, including the area described as belonging to the president, was evacuated, the UNSCOM deputy director said. "Iraq's explanation for this was that such measures were taken in anticipation of a military strike." The situation, he said, "makes follow-on missions more important." Discussions also centered on UNSCOM's request that it be given 24 hours' notice when Iraq plans to make changes at the sites. Without such notification, problems could arise in later inspections. It was at that point that Rashid indicated that such an agreement "would imply a continuing right of access to such sites by the commission. This ... was not Iraq's position," Duelfer reported. The inspections of the eight presidential sites were the first carried out in over seven years of UNSCOM inspections in Iraq. Access to these sites was granted only after Annan's special mission to meet with Saddam Hussein resulted in an agreement to allow U.N. weapons experts, accompanied by a special group of "diplomatic observers," to inspect the eight presidential sites Iraq had declared off limits to the U.N. The diplomats, Duelfer said, at certain times challenged the work of the UNSCOM weapons experts and the experts responded with their own challenges, raising the possibility that such incidents could occur in the future, especially when surprise inspections are conducted. "At times it seems that Iraq was raising spurious issues with the diplomats to put the commission's experts on the defensive," he said. "The commission's experts might then raise complaints of their own and this had the potential of developing into a damaging tit-for-tat situation." Nevertheless, Duelfer said, "the negative dynamic seemed to recede" as the site visits continued. "The most contentious issue," he said, was overflights and photography of the sites by the UNSCOM helicopter. Iraq initially denied permission, turning to U.N. officials and ultimately, the secretary general himself, before relenting. The secretary general supported UNSCOM's position that such photography is needed to verify building locations and structures by ground inspectors. Nevertheless, the incident has important implications for UNSCOM's authority, Duelfer pointed out. It "may reflect a fundamental change in the relationship between Iraq and the Special Commission," he said. "It will be important that the secretary general's representative be supportive of the approach of UNSCOM inspection teams or the chief inspector risks being undercut in seeking Iraqi compliance in future disputes over access or other matters." Another potential problem was Iraq's requirement that a senior diplomat accompany each part of the team as it breaks up into sub-teams during a site visit, Duelfer noted. There was no stated requirement for a senior diplomat to be present in each sub-team in the original U.N.-Iraq agreement. That could cause problems in the future when surprise visits require quick movement into a location by several sub-teams, the UNSCOM deputy said. "Assuring the presence of several diplomats at all locations will inhibit the possibility of surprise since non-Baghdad-based senior diplomats may then be required," he noted. (For more information on this subject, contact our special Iraq website at: http://www.usia.gov/iraq)
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