15 October 2002
UN Weapons Inspectors Await New Security Council Instructions
(Blix says Iraq has not agreed to all aspects of inspections) (360) By Judy Aita Washington File Staff Writer United Nations -- The chief U.N. weapons inspector told the Security Council October 15 that Baghdad had not agreed to all aspects of the inspections, but pointed out that under any circumstance he would not send teams to Iraq before the Security Council took action on a new resolution. Hans Blix, executive chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), said that he told the council "what we are now waiting for is not really so much further clarifications -- which would be nice to have -- but rather a new resolution from the Security Council." "It would be awkward for us to be in Iraq with inspectors deployed and then have a resolution from the Security Council giving us a lot of new instructions and perhaps requiring new practical arrangements," he said. "We have waited for nearly four years so we will have a little patience with the Security Council," Blix said. He added that he "heard from the Security Council that they themselves are impatient to get to a resolution." The Security Council has scheduled a day-long public debate for October 16 to give UN member states an opportunity to comment on how to proceed with the weapons inspections before voting on a resolution. Talking with journalists after the meeting Blix said that they are still some "loose ends" in the practical arrangements with Iraq for the inspections. Iraq has agreed to most of the arrangements, but it has not responded to UNMOVIC on setting up additional offices in Basra and Mosul, using U-2 spy planes, using helicopters over Baghdad, and holding interviews with Iraqi scientists and others outside the presence of Iraqi officials. Blix said that he would not respond to the two letters he received from Iraq in response to the letter from him and Mohamed Elbaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which handles the inspections for nuclear weapons. The two sent the letter to Iraq outlining their understanding of how inspections would be conducted based on their meetings in Vienna with Iraqi officials in late September. "It would have been simpler for everybody if they had affirmed what was in our letter," he said. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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