14 January 2003
Arms Inspectors Need More Time in Iraq, Annan Says
(U.N. secretary general: Keep the pressure on Iraq) (800) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Secretary General Kofi Annan said January 14 that U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq are intensifying their work, and the Security Council is letting them proceed, not talking of war at this stage. "The inspectors are just getting up to full speed. They are now quite operational and able to fly around (the country) and get their work done," Annan said at his first press conference of the year. "We should wait for the update that they will give to the council on the 27th (of January), and what ... further instruction the council gives them." U.N. weapons inspectors returned to Iraq November 27, 2002 and have been increasingly active as staff and equipment have arrived in the country. There are currently about 100 inspectors and another 50 support staff and 49 air crew members at two main offices in Iraq. To date they have conducted more than 150 inspections at over 125 sites. Plans include adding about 100 more inspectors, another office, and increasing aerial surveillance of suspected weapons sites. The secretary general said that Iraqi cooperation "is better than what it used to be," but the inspectors want more from Iraq to "fill in the gaps" on its weapons of mass destruction. Annan also said that "there is no doubt in anyone's mind" that U.S. pressure has been effective in getting Iraq to cooperate with the United Nations. "I don't think the inspectors would have been back in Iraq today" without pressure from the United States, he said. "It took us four years to try to get them in there, and four days after President Bush spoke at the U.N. and challenged the world and Iraq, Iraq accepted to let them in." Questioned on how the Security Council should proceed on Iraq, the secretary general said that Security Council resolution 1441 is clear on what the scenario should be. "The council will have to meet based on reports from the inspectors to determine what action the council should take," he said. If the inspectors determine that Iraq continues to defy the council and has not disarmed, Annan said, "the council will have to face up to its responsibilities and take the necessary action." The secretary general said that the council will have to decide what the "serious consequences" mentioned in the resolution should be if Baghdad is in material breach of the resolution. "And I hope they will be able to follow through," he said. Concerned about the humanitarian consequences of any possible military action in Iraq, the U.N. has been drawing up plans for emergency humanitarian assistance, the secretary general said. "We are worried that the consequences can be quite substantial and negative on the population and the refugees who may have to leave. ... "We do not want to be caught unprepared," he said. "So we have gone ahead and made contingency plans and are in touch with governments that provide some financial assistance for us to move our preparedness to the next level." He also said that the United Nations has no political or administrative contingency plans for Iraq after a possible war, but said the U.N. had experience in so-called nation-building over the last decade in Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, and Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the secretary general said, he is "both optimistic and hopeful that if we handle the situation right, and the pressure on the Iraqi leadership is maintained, and the inspectors continue to work as aggressively as they are doing, we may be able to disarm Iraq peacefully and without any resort to war." In his opening remarks, the secretary general also talked of other crisis areas, including the Middle East, Cote d'Ivoire, North Korea, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela. "The worldwide AIDS epidemic will claim many more lives this year than even a war in Iraq would and will then go on claiming more and more lives in 2004 and 2005," he said. "In southern Africa and the Horn of Africa as many as 30 million people face threat of starvation this year, and poverty everywhere is condemning mothers and infants to premature deaths, sending them to bed hungry, denying them clear drinking water, keeping them away from school." Annan said he remains convinced "that peace is possible in Iraq, in Korea and even between Israel and Palestine if states work together on all these problems with patience and firmness." "I am convinced that terror can be defeated, too, if the 191 member states of the United Nations pull together to deny terrorists refuge and cut off their funding," he added. (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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