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12 August 1998

UNSCOM POSTPONES IRAQ INSPECTIONS

(Inspectors wait for outcome of talks with Iraqis) (530)
By Judy Aita
USIA United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- The UN Special Commission overseeing the destruction
of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM) is delaying planned chemical, biological and
missile inspections until the current impasse with Iraqi has been
worked out.
UNSCOM Chairman Richard Butler informed the Security Council August 12
that Iraq's declaration earlier this month that all disarmament
activities must cease has forced UNSCOM to suspend inspections.
On August 5 Iraq announced it was "totally suspending" cooperation
with UNSCOM and with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
saying that its weapons files should be closed and intrusive
inspections ended. Both the Security Council and Secretary General
Kofi Annan declared that Iraq's actions were unacceptable and in
violation of the Gulf War cease-fire agreements. On August 10 Annan
sent his special envoy for Iraq, Prakash Shah, to Baghdad to urge the
government to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors.
"Iraq's actions bring to a halt all of the disarmament activities of
the commission and place limitations on the rights of the commission
to conduct its monitoring operations," Butler said in a letter to the
Council.
Suspended are "discussions at the political and technical level aimed
at resolving outstanding issues" and a number of inspections planned
in the chemical, biological, and missile fields, Butler said.
The discussions and inspections were aimed at bringing to closure the
outstanding disarmament issues which need to be resolved if the
commission is to report that Iraq is in compliance with its
disarmament obligations, he said.
In addition UNSCOM's monitoring activities "have been also restricted
by Iraq." Butler said.
Iraq's decision not to cooperate with the weapons inspectors denies
UNSCOM the right "to inspect additional, non-declared sites where the
capabilities for conducting proscribed or monitorable activities may
exist. Such conditions significantly reduce the effectiveness of
monitoring," the UNSCOM chairman said.
Disarmament inspections are designed to deal with finding out the
extent of and destroying the banned weapons programs. Monitoring is
designed to ensure that those weapons programs are not restarted.
IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei also informed the Council
August 11 that his agency's ongoing monitoring and verification
program has been limited by Iraq and asked the Council how to proceed.
ElBaradei said that the effectiveness of IAEA's monitoring of nuclear
sites is critically dependent on the full exercise of the agency's
rights of access.
Iraq's refusal to cooperate in any activity involving investigation of
its clandestine nuclear program makes it impossible for IAEA to
investigate the remaining questions and concerns the agency has about
Iraq's nuclear weapons programs, he said.
Iraq's restrictions have resulted in the discontinuation of a joint
IAEA/UNSCOM inspection of Iraqi sites which are thought to have the
facilities suitable for conducting work on some aspect of the banned
weapons of mass destruction, the IAEA Director General explained.
"The limited activities currently undertaken in Iraq by the IAEA,
under the restrictions imposed by Iraq, fall far short of full
implementation of the ongoing monitoring and verification plan and
result in a significantly reduced level of assurance than would be
provided through the full implementation of that plan," ElBaradei
said.