11 December 2003
Negroponte Welcomes Appointment of U.N. Official to Iraq
Ambassador says Annan report on Iraq is "a positive step forward"
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte described the appointment of an acting U.N. special representative to Iraq as "a positive step forward" in United Nations preparation for the return of its international staff.
Speaking December 11 with journalists outside the Security Council chambers, Negroponte said he also saw Secretary General Kofi Annan's report on Iraq as "a positive step forward in terms of the U.N. preparing itself as best it can to be able to send international staff back into Iraq as circumstances permit."
On December 10 Annan sent a 26-page report to the council discussing the complex situation in the country and U.N. activities over the past four months. He stressed that the United Nations stands ready to provide assistance to an Iraqi provisional government, but only if security conditions permit. Annan said that the first requirement for the U.N. is that the Iraqis themselves want the organization's involvement. Then the U.N. must have a clear role and the risks to U.N. staff working in the country must have diminished.
The secretary general also announced the appointment of Ross Mountain of New Zealand as the interim head of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to replace Sergio Vieira de Mello until a special representative is named in early 2004. De Mello was killed August 19 in an attack on U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. For the time being the staff will be based in Nicosia, Cyprus; have a small office in Amman, Jordan; and travel to Baghdad as required.
Negroponte said "I think after a period of regrouping the United Nations is now positioning itself in a way that it will be able to move its international personnel back into Iraq when circumstances permit."
There is constant contact between the U.S.-led coalition and the United Nations, said Negroponte, who is the chief U.S. representative to the United Nations.
The goal of the coalition forces is "to restore effective security as quickly as possible," the ambassador said.
The United Nations "will have people in Cyprus, in the neighboring countries. We expect to be in constant communication with them about the security conditions and also what it is we might be able to do to facilitate their return either on a permanent basis or initially perhaps, as the secretary general himself suggests, cross-border operations where personnel may come in for a few days at a time for specific tasks," he said.
The Security Council is scheduled to discuss Annan's report on December 16. That will be the time, the ambassador said, to discuss what clarifications the U.N. needs to return to Iraq.
Nevertheless, Negroponte said that the United States sees Security Council resolution 1511 as providing "ample scope for the United Nations to play a role in Iraq."
"I do not believe that at the moment what is lacking is the authority for the United Nations and secretary general to act," he said. "There are numerous duties and responsibilities and possibilities enumerated in resolution 1511 that would give wide scope for action by the secretary general and his representative."
"And I know both the coalition and the [Iraqi] Governing Council would welcome a vital role being played by the United Nations," Negroponte said.
The ambassador was also asked about the U.S. announcement regarding what countries are eligible to bid on contracts in Iraq.
Negroponte said the decision "makes extremely good sense."
"It is also understandable that countries, for example, that did not send high level representation to Madrid or have, for various other reasons, indicated that they would withhold support to Iraq for the time being that they not be included as prime contractors for United States Congressionally appropriated funds," he said.
"This would not rule them out as far as being subcontractors ... nor would it exclude them from other funds such as the $13 billion that was raised in Madrid other than U.S. appropriated funds. There is still a wide range of possibilities for contractors of all types," the ambassador pointed out.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=December&x=20031211172149namfuaks0.3186914&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
