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UNSCOM REPORT TO UNSC ON JUNE 11-15 MISSION TO BAGHDAD, JUN 16

Iraq News JUN 20, 1998

The central focus of Iraq News is the tension between the considerable, proscribed WMD capabilities that Iraq is holding on to and its increasing stridency that it has complied with UNSCR 687 and it is time to lift sanctions. If you wish to receive Iraq News by email, a service which includes full-text of news reports not archived here, send your request to Laurie Mylroie .

  Yesterday, the London-based Arabic paper, Al Quds Al Arabi, carried a 
story on Martin Indyk's recent remarks on US Iraq policy, or lack 
thereof [see "Iraq News," Jun 18].  Below the headline, "Martin Indyk 
Affirms the Impotence of the Iraqi Opposition in Overthrowing Saddam and 
Pledges to Support them 'Openly and in an Effective Way' to Coordinate 
their Positions," were two pictures, side by side, of a tight-lipped 
Saddam and Indyk. 
   On Thurs, Amb. Butler sent the UNSC a report on his talks in Baghdad. 
The report was sharply at odds with the optimistic remarks he had made 
there.  Speculating about those remarks, several readers suggested 1) 
Butler was running up a red flag about UNSCOM's precarious situation, as 
it is under tremendous pressure from France and Russia, in which China 
joins, while the US has gone AWOL; and 2) while Butler deviated from 
established UNSCOM procedure in giving Baghdad a "roadmap," a fixed list 
of issues to be addressed, his bet was that Iraq would not comply with 
even that, underscoring the extent of its defiance.  
   As the UNSCOM report explained, Butler was accompanied by four UNSCOM 
commissioners, including the Russian, Gennady Gatilov.  
   As UNSCOM reported about the talks, "While not accepting the 
Commission's document, the so-called 'road map,' the Deputy Prime 
Minister [Tariq Aziz], allowed the discussions in Baghdad to concentrate 
on the priority disarmament issues identified by the Commission, in that 
document, but disagreed that all of them were issues of disarmament."  
Baghdad wants to extend the precedent established by the IAEA on nuclear 
weapons and declare outstanding problems to be issues to be dealt with 
in the monitoring phase, when it would be allowed to sell oil freely.
   Thus, "Much discussion took place over the importance of certain of 
the matters under investigation.  The Deputy Prime Minister stated that 
the Commission pursued many trivial matters not related to disarmament 
that only delayed lifting the embargo. . . Iraq had destroyed its 
proscribed weapons, and the details were unimportant in view of the 
level of suffering in Iraq as a consequence of sanctions."
   Regarding the large quantities of SCUD missile fuel that Iraq 
retains, "The Deputy Prime Minister said that: the issue was not 
essential for the disarmament process; it could be addressed under 
ongoing monitoring by the Commission; and, Iraq would not agree to its 
inclusion in any current schedule for work."
   "On the accounting for Iraq's indigenous production of missiles, and 
for major components, Iraq reiterated it position that it had not 
achieved full capability to produce indigenously, engines and gyroscopes 
for proscribed missiles.  Therefore, accounting fully for such 
components was unnecessary."
   Regarding VX, "While informed of the Commission's concerns, Iraq 
refused to undertake additional steps to clarify the extent of its 
attempts to produce the chemical warfare agent VX.  Iraq stated that 
this matter was closed and that it was only ready to discuss the 
evidence available to the Commission of incorrect declarations of VX."
  Regarding its BW program, "Iraq stated that it had already presented 
all the evidence available to it and that no additional information; or 
documentation would be provided to the Commission.  Iraq once again 
declared that the biological weapons program had been obliterated.  It 
stated that it would not revise its declaration of full, final and 
complete disclosure." 
  Also, while France will begin aerial surveillance for UNSCOM and it 
seems Russia will as well, "The Deputy Prime Minister demanded that the 
Commission stop using the U-2 aerial surveillance aircraft due to the 
hostile policy towards Iraq of the Government supplying the aircraft, 
the United States." 
  Also, Iraq seems to be carrying out proscribed missile activity, "The 
Executive Chairman reiterated the Commission's serious concern over the 
use by Iraq of certain key components taken from a surface-to-air 
missile system (VOLGA) and in modifying them for use in a short-range 
missile system.  These modifications could in turn enable Iraq to modify 
the VOLGA missiles into a proscribed surface-to-surface mode.  The 
Deputy Prime Minister stressed that, due to the sanctions, it needed to 
make the best use of its limited resources for its national defense."
   The report concluded, "In virtually all instances, Iraq remained firm 
in its position that no relevant documents were available.  However, in 
limited cases, Iraq would look again for documents.  In one instance, 
Iraq refused to provide documents it acknowledged having in its 
possession-documents previously shown to the Commission on one 
occasion-on the ground that Iraq had itself determined the materials 
contained in those documents were unrelated to the Commission's work."