12 November 1998
ANNAN, UNSC URGE IRAQ TO RESUME COOPERATION WITH UNSCOM
(Annan says this would be good for the Iraqi people) (880) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Security Council have both urged Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to resume cooperation with UN weapons inspectors so the Gulf War cease-fire issues can be brought to a successful conclusion and sanctions can be lifted. Meanwhile, UN weapons inspectors and other UN humanitarian aid staff were being evacuated from Iraq November 11 as the likelihood of a military strike on Iraq increased with each day Baghdad's intransigence continues. The Secretary General, who has been traveling in North Africa, has cut short his trip to return to UN headquarters and consult with the Security Council and "basically to stay on top of what is developing as a crisis situation," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said. Annan has no plans to visit Baghdad or meet with Iraqi officials as he did in February, when his diplomatic efforts resulted in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Iraq and the UN. The MOU was the basis on which UN weapons inspectors have been working since then. Saddam Hussein effectively voided it when Iraq stopped cooperating with the UN Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraq weapons (UNSCOM) in August. In a statement issued from Morocco, the Secretary General said he was "saddened and burdened by the Iraqi decision of August 5 and October 31 not to cooperate with the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM)." Annan said that Iraq's decision to stop cooperating with UNSCOM at a time when the Council was undertaking plans for a comprehensive review of Iraqi compliance with the cease-fire demands "came as a surprise to me and, I suspect, to all Council members. "I strongly urge President Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi Government to rescind its decision and resume cooperation with UNSCOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors," the Secretary General said. Appealing to the President and Iraqi leadership "to take this opportunity to resume cooperation" with the UN, Annan said that "this would be good for the Iraqi people, for the region, and for the world. "Iraq has maintained for a long time that it wants to see light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "I also want to see the lifting of sanctions. As I have said repeatedly, the only way to achieve this is for Iraq to fully cooperate with the United Nations Security Council." The Security Council has agreed to conduct a comprehensive review of Iraq's compliance with all the Gulf War cease-fire requirements as a step to the eventual lifting of sanctions. However, the Council is unanimous in its insistence that the review will not be held until Iraq resumes cooperation with the weapons inspectors, who have said that there are still discrepancies to be cleared up regarding chemical, biological and ballistic missile programs. Annan pointed out that the comprehensive review "offers Iraq a genuine opportunity. The comprehensive review will map out the remaining steps, provided Iraq cooperates, thus allowing them to see light at the end of the tunnel." Council President Ambassador Peter Burleigh of the United States said after the private meeting November 11 that the Council "welcomes and fully supports in all respects the Secretary General's statement addressed to the Iraqi authorities. "Everyone (on the Council) would prefer another solution to the problem" than the use of force, Burleigh said. "It's everyone's position on the Council we want a diplomatic solution. But the ball is in Iraq's court." Speaking not as President of the UN Security Council for November, but as the chief US delegate to the Council, Burleigh said that the United States has "made it clear. We believe we have full authority to use force. But we have also made clear -- as we did in our statement last week (November 5) after the adoption of the resolution (on Iraq) -- we prefer a diplomatic solution." The Security Council met in private session with the UN coordinator for the oil-for-food program, Benon Sevan, and UNSCOM Chairman Richard Butler to discuss the decisions they made to withdraw more than 200 UN personnel from Iraq. Included in the withdrawal were 92 UNSCOM inspectors, 11 IAEA inspectors, and 130 staff from the oil-for-food office, UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Program (WFP), and the UN Development Program (UNDP). UN Special envoy to Iraq Prakash Shah is staying in Baghdad, the UN said. The 231 international staff and 809 national staff in the northern Kurdish provinces will continue working, Sevan said. In those areas the UN implements the oil-for-food program. Sevan said that the UN will continue its monitoring and other responsibilities in the rest of Iraq under the oil-for food program albeit at a significantly reduced level. In the 15 provinces in central and southern Iraq the Iraqi Government is responsible for distributing food, medicine, and other essential supplies provided under the oil-for-food humanitarian program while the UN monitors the distribution. Sevan also said that the departure of the international staff should not affect either the export of oil or the arrival of supplies under the oil-for-food program.
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