08 December 1999
U.S. Pressing for UN Security Council Vote on Iraqi Disarmament
(Burleigh: It's time for closure) (950) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- After six months of debate and discussion, the Security Council is getting close to voting on a comprehensive resolution to deal with remaining Iraqi disarmament issues and sanctions, UN diplomats said December 8. The United States has been spearheading the effort to get a consensus on a resolution that would put a new arms inspection and verification unit in Iraq and set up benchmarks for the suspension of sanctions. As the council held a closed meeting at UN headquarters December 8, high-level talks were being conducted in capitals in an effort to narrow differences so the council can present a united approach to the remaining issues with Baghdad. In the meantime, negotiators in New York will also be meeting over the next few days to complete work on the text. With an agreement on the omnibus resolution, the council will move to vote on the extension of the so-called oil-for-food program as well. After the private council meeting, U.S. Ambassador Peter Burleigh told journalists that he hoped the council "can come to closure with a vote -- a very positive one -- on both the comprehensive resolution and on a new six-month oil-for-food program within a couple of days." "We're coming to closure. It's a time when -- as far as the U.S. is concerned -- we think there could and should be a council vote in the next couple days," Burleigh said. Council President Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom said that during the meeting "the views expressed had predictable differences in them, but I think there was a very strong feeling that we are now in a process of driving forward for a position in the council with as much consensus as possible." "There is momentum that the council wants to ... take this forward," Greenstock said. Burleigh, the deputy permanent representative who has been leading the negotiations while U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke is on an official visit to Africa, said "there are very high-level talks going on as we speak between ministers and I'm not in a position today to decide if those can be closed positively within a day or within two days. But we would like to plan for a vote within the next two or three days." Some outstanding issues remain among the five permanent members of the council who have been trying to draft the resolution to bring to the other 10 members of the council for the last six months, the U.S. ambassador conceded. Other issues were raised by some of the elected council members during the closed meeting. But, Burleigh said, "we are getting, I think, close to a consensus." "At any rate, whether we have a consensus in the end or not, in our view it's time for the Security Council to come to closure on this subject because frankly the debates we're having are not on new issues," he said. "There are discussions on issues we have been looking at for many months. So governments need to make political decisions about how they stand on the resolution and the council needs to move forward," Burleigh said. Burleigh also said that the United States will introduce a draft resolution to start phase seven of the oil-for-food program. He said the resolution would continue the program, which allows Iraq to sell $5,200 million in oil during the 180-day period. The program allows Iraq to sell oil to buy food, humanitarian supplies, and other goods under UN supervision in order to ease the burden of sanctions on Iraqi civilians. Phase six expired in November and was given two extensions of two weeks and one week respectively in an effort to bring pressure on the council to come to grips with the omnibus resolution. "We have succeeded I think over the past few weeks of focusing intense council attention on the Iraq issue and that is something my government welcomes very much," Burleigh said. As the negotiations draw to a close, the new resolution under discussion would establish the "United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC)" to replace the Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM) established at the end of the Gulf War in 1991. It is to continue to work in Iraq on the unresolved disarmament issues regarding the destruction of Iraq's ballistic missiles and chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and their programs. According to the draft, within 60 days UNMOVIC and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will draw up for council review a work program that includes both disarmament tasks and ongoing monitoring and verification. Iraq will be liable for the full costs of the UNMOVIC and IAEA operation. The resolution would also lift the ceiling on Iraqi oil exports and allow additional export routes. But all activities will still be under the supervision of the UN, which will increase its monitoring program. Iraq will also be required to continue to cooperate on the repatriation of Kuwaitis and third-country nations caught in the invasion of Kuwait and return Kuwaiti property and archives taken by the fleeing Iraqi troops in 1991. Burleigh said that division in the council is over the same issues that have been the major stumbling blocks for the months. "A large one being the trigger mechanism and exactly what would trigger the suspension of sanctions -- Iraqi compliance with outstanding disarmament obligations. That is the core question right now," he said. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)
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