09 September 1998
SECURITY COUNCIL CANCELS IRAQI SANCTIONS REVIEW
(Burleigh: a clear, direct message to Iraqi leadership) (800) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- The Security Council September 9 voted unanimously to suspend any consideration to lift Iraqi sanctions until Baghdad resumes cooperation with UN weapons inspectors. Adopting a resolution condemning Iraq's refusal to cooperate with the UN, the Council said that it would not conduct the previously scheduled six-month sanctions review in October if Iraq is not cooperating fully with the weapons inspectors. However, the council also said that it would consider holding a comprehensive review of Iraq's compliance with all of the Council's Gulf war cease-fire demands once Iraq changes its position on the weapons inspections. Suspending the six-month sanction reviews removes any chance that the wide-ranging economic sanctions imposed on Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait will be lifted or eased. US Ambassador Peter Burleigh said the resolution was "a very clear and direct message to the Iraq leadership that the council expects them to come back into cooperation with UNSCOM and the IAEA." "It's an important resolution. We hope the Iraqis will take it in the spirit it was intended by the Council, which is that there is an urgent need for Iraq to change its policy and come back into compliance," Burleigh said. "This is the light at the (end of) the tunnel that the Iraqi side is always talking about and it's the only route to the lifting of sanctions: that is they have to comply first, then consideration is given to other issues," the ambassador said. Burleigh, who is the US deputy permanent representative to the UN, pointed out that the vote disproved reports that the longstanding Council unity on keeping sanctions in place until Iraq is disarmed has eroded. The unanimous vote showed that "there is quite a strong consensus," he said. "This is a conflict between the Iraqis and the Security Council and the Council has now sent a very clear message back to the Iraqis," the US ambassador said. "I'm sure the council will continue to send such messages to Iraq and we expect Iraq to respond." The United States is "hopeful that the Iraqi leadership will get the message that the Security Council has unanimously sent them, that is, that it is up to Iraq to change its policies and come back into conformance," he said. "We want UNSCOM and IAEA to get back into full operation on the ground in Iraq with inspections. This is what the U.S. wants and this is (the message) the Security Council has just sent," Burleigh added. 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, however his mission was unsuccessful. In the resolution, the Council demanded that Iraq rescind the August 5th decision and cooperate with UNSCOM and IAEA immediately. Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said the resolution "clearly states that the Council doesn't like the current situation." British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock noted that the important new element in the resolution is the invitation to the Secretary General to provide his view on how that comprehensive review should be taken forward "to ensure that there is a positive, responsive attitude from Iraq to the requirements of the Council." "What this means is that the Council is expressing to Iraq the fact that the road is open to Iraq to move forward and to get rid of sanctions if it responds to the Security Council's requirements, and the mechanisms for that are being adapted to make it slightly easier for Iraq to respond to those requirements," the British ambassador said. "Why we have to wait for Iraq to respond; why we have to adapt our mechanisms, we only have to wonder since Iraq has had many opportunities to look at the road map and follow it. But we've given them another opportunity," Greenstock said. Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Hamdoon said before the Council vote that "any resolution that condemns Iraq is unfair because Iraq has a case and has very strong arguments behind its position on the fifth of August on the question of cooperation with UNSCOM." In the resolution, the Council also reaffirmed its full support for UNSCOM and IAEA in their efforts to rid Iraq of chemical, biological, nuclear, and ballistic missiles and their programs. (For more information on this subject, contact our special Iraq website at: http://www.usia.gov/iraq)
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