12 February 2003
Talks Under Way on New U.N. Resolution on Iraq
(Last chance for meaningful anti-proliferation regime, White House says) (740) By Wendy S. Ross and Alicia K. Langley Washington File Staff Writers Washington -- Diplomatic conversations are under way concerning the language of a follow-up to United Nations Security Council resolution 1441 on Iraq, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer confirmed February 12. "(W)e remain in mid-diplomacy here. And I'm not going to venture in too deep on the play-by-play of diplomatic discussions," he told reporters at his noon briefing. Officials of three of the five permanent Security Council members -- China, Russia, and France -- have said their countries oppose military action against Iraq at this time and want to give weapons inspectors more time. "Suffice it to say, when the president said that we will go to the United Nations for a second resolution so long as it enforces resolution 1441, he said it because he does believe in the importance of the United Nations as an institution and that this is also the United Nations' last chance to show that international proliferation regimes have meaning, have effect, and are not just documents to be ignored," Fleischer said. He said that resolution 1441, approved unanimously by the 15 members of the Security Council in November, gave Iraq a final chance to disarm, calling for "full and immediate compliance" by the Saddam Hussein regime. "The United Nations, the world, didn't say lengthy compliance. They didn't say negotiable compliance. They didn't say compliance over months. They said immediate," Fleischer said. "The United Nations said it was a final opportunity -- not a penultimate opportunity, but a final opportunity. The United Nations, as I indicated, said it was binding. And they said that Iraq would face serious consequences as a result of continued violations." Fleischer said Saddam Hussein "has shown no inclination that he intends to comply" with the demands of the United Nations, and he asked, "at what point does the world say, the United Nations has meaning, the United Nations has value, the resolutions count? "Or is the message of the world to allow Saddam Hussein to continue to drag his feet as he builds up his weapons of mass destruction for the possibility of using them." "(T)here should not have been any question of negotiating the U-2 (flights) with Iraq; Iraq should have allowed the U-2 to fly under resolution 1441," Fleischer said. But "negotiations did ensue with Iraq. Iraq then came out and said, just over the weekend, they would allow the U-2 to fly unconditionally. Before the ink was even dry on the Iraqi letter, we found out there were conditions attached to flying the U-2 once again," Fleischer said. "As for the number of inspectors, if Iraq was serious about disarming, you would need half the number of inspectors, you wouldn't need double. If Saddam Hussein has no intention of disarming, doubling the inspectors just means there are double number of people for Saddam Hussein to deceive," he said. The international community cannot "afford to be in denial" about the seriousness of Iraqi support for terrorists, Fleischer told reporters at his morning session with them. The audio tape believed to be the voice of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden broadcast February 11 on the Qatar-based, Arabic language TV news network Al-Jazeera "is the nightmare people have been wondering about, the linking up of Iraq with al-Qaeda," Fleischer said. He said U.S. officials are still analyzing the tape, but they believe it to be authentic. The tape urges Muslims to support Iraq in the event of a war with the United States and called on Iraqis to carry out suicide attacks and conduct urban warfare against U.S. troops. The voice on the tape denounces as "infidels" those in the ruling Baath Party, but says the interests of Muslims meet with Iraq's secular government in what he calls "the war against the crusaders." Fleischer said "History is full of examples of people who seemingly have differing interests working together against what they view as the greater enemy. Hitler and Stalin immediately come to mind." He noted the Nonaggression Pact between the Soviet Union and Germany in 1939. Fleischer also reported that President Bush started his day with his weekly meeting with the leaders of the U.S. Congress, followed by a meeting with his National Security Council. (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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