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15 November 2002

Blix Says Weapons Inspectors to Begin Work in Iraq November 27

(Inspectors will present facts, the Security Council will evaluate
them) (650)
By Phil Kurata
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The chief of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and
Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), Hans Blix, said U.N. weapons
inspections will resume in Iraq November 27 and the commission will
report back to the Security Council within 60 days after that date.
Briefing reporters at the United Nations in New York, Blix said he and
the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed
ElBaradei, plan to arrive in Baghdad November 18 for meetings with the
Iraqi government on launching the next round of inspections, which the
Iraqi government interrupted in 1998.
Before the inspectors go to work, Blix said some basic logistic work
has to be taken care of.
"As most of you know, we have a center there, and that has now not
been manned since the end of '98. So we will have to make sure that
the pigeons that have broken through the windows will be chased out,
and that we will have new paint on the walls, and that the
laboratories will be equipped with new equipment. The communication,
of course, is important -- telephones and faxes, secure lines; and
transportation -- jeeps, buses, and indeed, a little later on, also
helicopters," Blix said.
Blix said December 8 is the deadline for Iraq to submit a declaration
on its programs and activities related to the development of weapons
of mass destruction.
"Once that comes in, there will be a lot of work for us to analyze
that declaration," Blix said.
Blix said the warnings from the international community that there
would be "zero tolerance" for Iraqi attempts to interfere with the
inspections, an issue he said that could trigger war, required
"nuance."
"[O]ne flat tire, well, that's a flat tire. If it is with our own
people, that is one thing; if it is with the Iraqi escorts having one
flat tire, that is one thing; if they have four flat tires on the way
out, delaying us much more, than it may be a different thing. So what
this points to, I think, is that you may have to take into account
whether you can read an intention into something," Blix said.
Dealing with questions about "material breach" of U.N. resolutions,
another issue related to the possible use of military force to
eliminate weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Blix said the
inspectors would issue a factual report, and it would be up to the
Security Council to judge whether a material breach had been committed
and decide what to do about it. He said a judgment of material breach
would not automatically lead to military action.
"The council, especially when it's united, will have a whole spectrum
of measures at its disposal," he said.
Blix said the inspectors come from a variety of countries and will
carry out their work based on "unconditional, unrestricted access"
with the goal of conducting "effective" inspections. "Cosmetic
inspections are worse than none," he said.
Blix ruled out the possibility that mosques and religious sites could
be used as sanctuaries from weapons inspectors, but said the
inspectors would pay attention to the religious sensitivities related
to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Eid holiday that follows
it.
Commenting on the use of interviews to gather information on Iraqi
weapons programs, Blix said interviews had generated abundant
information in the past and had gone well without any great problems.
He said UNMOVIC and IAEA reserved the right to decide the modalities
and the place to conduct them.
Blix said the question of war or peace was not in the hands of the
weapons inspectors, but rather in the hands of Iraq and the Security
Council.
"[I]t lies in the hands of, on the one hand, the Iraqis -- What do
they do; what do they declare; how open are they; how much
transparency will there be? And, on the other hand, the Security
Council and the members of the Security Council. We are in between,"
Blix 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)