16 December 2003
Iraq Asks U.N. to Return
Secretary General, Iraqi Minister meet with Security Council
By Judy Aita
Washington File UN Correspondent
United Nations -- Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iraq's foreign minister differed December 16 on when the United Nations should return to Iraq.
Annan has asked the Security Council and Iraqi officials to spell out what role they want the United Nations to play in Iraq so that he can decide when international staff will return. Discussing his recent report on Iraq during a public meeting of the Security Council with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, the secretary general said that the challenge to the U.N. "has been to find creative ways of intensifying our engagement despite our diminished capacity on the ground."
The foreign minister asked for an immediate expanded U.N. role in humanitarian relief, capacity and nation building, promoting sustainable development and advancing the electoral and political process in Iraq itself.
Zebari asked the United Nations to "put aside your differences, pull together and work with us and all those who have contributed and sacrificed so much to realize our shared objectives of a sovereign, united, free and democratic Iraq."
"We call upon the members of the United Nations to look beyond their differences over the decision to go to war on Iraq and come together to forge an international consensus. Settling scores with the United States should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people. This squabbling over political differences takes a backseat to their daily struggles for security, jobs, basic freedoms, and all the rights that the U.N. is chartered to uphold," Zebari said.
The foreign minister characterized the council in 2002 as "divided between those who wanted to appease Saddam Hussein and those who wanted to hold him accountable."
"The U.N. as an organization failed to help rescue the Iraqi people from a murderous tyranny that lasted over 35 years and today we are unearthing thousands of victims in horrifying testament to that failure. The U.N. must not fail the Iraqi people again," he said.
Annan pulled out all U.N. international staff in the weeks following the deadly bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad which killed 22 including U.N. special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. Annan has appointed Ross Mountain as acting special representative and set up a small staff of 40 for the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) which is based in Cyprus and Amman.
Zebari disagreed with the secretary general's plans saying that U.N. help and expertise "cannot be effectively delivered from Cyprus or Amman," and he added, "we are ready and willing to help provide whatever security is required to see (the U.N.) return to Iraq."
But Annan has said repeatedly over the past weeks that he will not send international staff back into Iraq on a permanent basis until the security situation improves. He said that he needs the U.N. role to be clearly defined so that he can "weigh the degree of risk that the United Nations is being asked to accept against the substance of the role we are being asked to fulfill."
"I therefore need to know how responsibilities will be allocated and who will be taking what decisions," the secretary general told the council. "Above all, I need to know what the Iraqis expect of the United Nations, and whether we will be in a position to meet those expectations."
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Annan said that for the longer term the U.N. role "is less problematic. If they want us to play a role in the immediate term, transitional arrangements, I think there has to be clarity as to exactly what they would want the U.N. to do."
"We have made it clear that once the security situation improves we will be ready to return in larger numbers. That has always been our position," he said. "We have lots of work to do to help the Iraqi people. We have lots of work to do in the areas of humanitarian, reconstruction, and the political process. We are ready."
Annan said he doubts the capture of Saddam Hussein is going to have an immediate impact on the security situation.
"But it has removed a shadow which he has cast over the situation," he continued. "It does offer an opportunity for governments to come together and to look forward as to how we work together to stabilize Iraq. There may be a new opportunity here, but it depends on how it is exploited by all concerned to mend fences, heal wounds, and move forward."
Speaking during the public council meeting Annan said Saddam Hussein's capture is "an opportunity for a new beginning in the vital task of helping Iraqis to take control of their destiny -- of helping them create a secure, stable and independent Iraq which can once again take its proper place in the region and in the international community."
According to Zebari, Saddam's capture was an historic moment for Iraq and dealt a huge blow to his misguided former loyalists, "but while the celebrations continue, we must persevere in efforts to empower our people to take charge of their own destiny as soon as possible and let Saddam's capture mark the beginning of a new era in Iraq's history."
The council continued talks with the secretary general and Zebari in private session.
The foreign minister said that he met with the council and the secretary general to provide the clarity that Annan is asking for and impress upon the secretary general that Iraqis are committed to the process.
"From an Iraqi point of view we want the U.N. and we identified those areas the U.N. can be very useful and helpful and can play an important significant role in this process," he said.
The council took no formal action on Iraq's request. Some council members feel that the Security Council has already provided the mandate for the United Nations' work in Iraq in its resolution 1511.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said December 15 that "resolution 1511 contains ample scope for action by the secretary general and also for contributions to the political, economic, and also military well being of Iraq by member states who wish to do so."
"Anybody who's got the political will to help Iraq in the present circumstances can find ample authority and scope within existing United Nations resolutions," Negroponte said.
The United States believes "the United Nations should play a vital role in Iraq with respect to the political aspects, with respect to humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq," the ambassador said. "There are a whole number of different ways that we've enumerated and agreed actually, by unanimity in Security Council resolutions, as to how the United Nations can be of assistance."
(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=20031216190055ndyblehs0.5605585&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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