14 August 1998
ALBRIGHT DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF US INTERFERENCE WITH UNSCOM
(Says US fully supports UNSCOM inspections in Iraq) (620)
By Jane A. Morse
USIA Diplomatic Correspondent
Washington -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has denied
allegations that the United States tried to halt surprise inspections
by UNSCOM in Iraq.
Albright answered questions about US policy regarding weapons
inspections in Iraq during a brief August 14 press conference she
shared with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura during
his visit to the State Department.
Albright was asked about a front-page article in the August 14 edition
of the Washington Post which reported that surprise inspections
planned by the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq -- the group
responsible for verifying Iraq's destruction of weapons of mass
destruction -- had been canceled after an August 4 phone call between
Albright and UNSCOM executive chairman Richard Butler.
"We have conversations," she told reporters of her communications with
Butler. "I'm not going into my conversations. I do not -- let me make
this perfectly clear -- I do not tell Chairman Butler what to do."
The Secretary emphasized that the United States has not changed its
policy regarding UNSCOM or Iraq. "We support UNSCOM in its inspections
and fully support UNSCOM's right to decide where, when, and how it
conducts its inspections.
"We consult Chairman Butler from time to time as do all members of the
Permanent Five and all members of the Security Council," she said.
UNSCOM reports directly to the UN Security Council's permanent members
("Permanent Five"), representatives of Britain, China, France, Russia
and the United States.
Albright said that "Chairman Butler has made it perfectly clear that
he makes the operational decisions and that he takes orders and
instructions from no one. The Security Council itself talks to him
about policy but not on operations."
The Washington Post did quote Butler as saying in an August 13
telephone interview that any suggestions that he received orders from
Albright would be "a very considerable distortion of what took place."
According to The Washington Post, Butler said: "No member of the
(Security) Council, including the United States, has purported to give
me instructions. They all recognize that their job is policy, my job
is operations."
But Butler declined to tell The Washington Post reporter if Albright
had urged him not to go ahead with surprise inspections reportedly
planned for this summer at two sites in Iraq suspected of harboring
chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missiles capable of
deploying them.
Albright said that "there should be absolutely no doubt that the
United States wants to see UNSCOM succeed in its effort to conduct
free and unfettered inspections in Iraq and to effect and verify the
destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs."
The Secretary said that it is Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein who is
blocking the inspections, referring to his recent refusals to allow
any inspections at all. "Saddam has now laid down a challenge to the
Security Council and to the credibility of the way that the UN is
operating on this very important issue.
"We expect and we will urge the Security Council to take appropriate
action to make it clear that Saddam must resume full cooperation with
UNSCOM," Albright said.
Albright emphasized that "there will be no sanctions relief if we
can't have inspections going on."
She said that Saddam Hussein is attempting to create "a US-Iraq
confrontation." But she pointed out that "this is an issue between
Iraq and the United Nations."
The Secretary also warned that "if necessary, we will use force -- on
our time table -- in response to threats at a time and place of our
choosing."
"We're not going to play Saddam's game on his terms," she said.
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