28 October 2002
U.N. Weapons Inspectors Want Clear Mandate for Iraq Disarmament
(Chief inspectors meet with Security Council) (1010) By Judy Aita Washington File U.N. Correspondent United Nations -- The two top U.N. weapons inspectors told the Security Council October 28 that a clear mandate, council unity, and understanding by Baghdad that there will be consequences for failing to cooperate are essential ingredients for the successful disarmament of Iraq. Hans Blix, executive chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), and Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which handles the inspections for nuclear weapons, met with the Security Council in private to discuss a U.S./U.K. draft resolution that would strengthen the practical arrangements needed to conduct weapons inspections. The draft resolution lays out what Iraq must do and states that there will be consequences if Iraq refuses to comply. The resolution declares that Iraq is in material breach of U.N. resolutions for providing false declarations to U.N. weapons inspectors and for failing to cooperate with U.N. and IAEA weapons inspectors since 1998. The draft gives UNMOVIC and IAEA unrestricted rights of entry and travel into and inside Iraq; calls for the U.N. to provide security for the inspectors; gives the inspectors the right to freeze sites and declare exclusion zones; and gives them the right to conduct interviews without the presence of Iraqi officials. Most importantly, the draft would give the inspectors immediate, unconditional, and unrestricted access to all sites in Iraq, including so-called presidential sites. Blix told journalists after the session that both he and ElBaradei stressed clarity, council unity, and willingness of the council to remain steadfast over the long term. "Just as important as clarity in the text, clarity in mandate, is the readiness of the council to uphold the resolution and the prerogatives of the inspectors and there be no fatigue ... because our authority will go down" if the council weakens, he said. "It has to be not only the first month, but it has to be on a continuous basis," Blix said. "Both of us stated the importance of having ... broad unity in the council as was the case of 1284" [1999 resolution establishing UNMOVIC], he added. "I think the intention is, in the draft resolution, to give very clear signals as to what we can do and to avoid what people have referred to as cat and mouse play," Blix said. ElBaradei said that they told the council "we need unified council support behind us. We need explicit authority, good practical arrangements, and information from all member states as how to go and where to go to ensure that Iraq is completely disarmed." While there are no legal obstacles to starting inspections now, Blix said, "in practical terms it is inconceivable that we would run our inspections while half of the council wants us to be there and half does not want us to be there." Blix said that a resolution warning Iraq of consequences should it fail to cooperate would strengthen the inspectors authority. "It helps us if Iraq is conscious that non-cooperation will entail reactions by the council," he said. "It is desirable that Iraq understand that any lack of cooperation or violation of provisions of the resolution will call for reaction on the part of the council," the UNMOVIC chief said. Blix rejected statements giving the inspectors the power of peace and war. "Our job is to report and the decision whether there is war or peace or reaction -- that is for the council and its members," he said. ElBaradei said, "our role is to establish the facts. It is for the Security Council to evaluate the facts and determine whether these facts constitute material breach and what is the next step to be taken." The draft resolution is not the first time that the Security Council has declared Iraq has been in material breach, ElBaradei said. "Resolution 707 [in 1991], in fact, declared (Iraq) in material breach because of lack of cooperation," he said. Questioned whether Iraq is in "material breach" of its obligations under Council resolutions, Blix said it depends on how the term is defined, but added, "it is clear that Iraq has not admitted inspectors since 1998, although it obligatory for them to do so." Some council members have said privately that they object to the language in the U.S./U.K. draft declaring Iraq in material breach of council resolutions, fearing it will be a trigger for military action. Both the United States and United Kingdom called the session with Blix and ElBaradei "useful." U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said that the meeting enabled the entire 15-nation Security Council "to walk through the elements we proposed in the U.S./U.K. text for a strengthened inspection regime." The ambassador said that Blix and ElBaradei clearly welcomed the authority spelled out in the draft resolution for the inspections. "One of them called it a comprehensive approach that will strengthen their hand and give them the opportunity to do the job the council has asked them to do," Cunningham said. For weeks the United States has been listening to the comments of all council members, as well as Blix and ElBaradei, in order to draft the resolution, Cunningham noted. "We will continue to do that." U.K. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said that during the meeting the two chief weapons inspectors pointed to areas where clarification is needed in the draft and "members have a better idea now of what the inspectors need." Greenstock expressed the hope that over the next few days the council will be able to agree on a text, but he said that there is "no particular timetable" for a vote. The text is also being discussed in capitals as well, he said. Secretary General Kofi Annan called the discussion "very, very serious." "It is a grave matter. It is a question of war and peace and I think it is appropriate that the council goes about it in a deliberate manner," Annan said on leaving the meeting. The secretary general said that he was hopeful that the council will come up with a resolution that a vast majority of the members can agree to, adding that it "will require some compromises to get compromises." (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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