A rchive Date
[ 04-10-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Iraq ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/iraqus_oct3-ap.html
Annan: Inspectors ready to return
By EDITH M. LEDERER - The Associated Press
Thursday, October 3, 2002
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday his chief weapons inspector was preparing to return to Baghdad while the Security Council decides whether to adopt a new resolution the United States says is critical to the disarmament of Saddam Hussein.
President Bush said the United Nations must stand with the United States to disarm Saddam - or stand aside.
"The choice is up (to) the United Nations to show its resolve. The choice is up to Saddam Hussein to fulfill his word," Bush said. "And if neither of them acts, the United States in deliberate fashion will lead a coalition to take away the worlds worst weapons from one of the world's worst leader."
Annan spoke before chief inspector Hans Blix briefed the divided council on the agreement he reached with Iraq earlier this week that could see the return of inspectors after a nearly four-year absence. The closed-door meeting was the first opportunity for all 15 council members to discuss the deal and the next steps for the inspection program.
The U.N. chief told reporters it's "up to the council today or in the coming week to determine what the next stage would be."
"Of course, they are discussing a new resolution which may be passed. But Blix, in the meantime, continues his preparations," Annan said.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard, when asked about the Bush remarks, said Annan would not comment until the council finished its work.
"That matter is solely in the hands of the Security Council. They are discussing how to respond to the meetings that Hans Blix had in Vienna in the beginning of this week. I assume those discussions will be going on a few days. The secretary-general will not comment on this subject until a conclusion of those consultations is reached."
U.N. diplomats said Blix was continuing with his previously announced plan to send an advance team to Iraq and expects to arrive in Bahrain Oct. 17 and Baghdad Oct. 19.
Council diplomats said Blix told the closed-door council meeting that a great deal of progress had been made but there were "loose ends" that need to be resolved, including access to eight presidential sites. The diplomats said Blix stated that he was a servant of the council and will continue to prepare for inspections, but new decisions by the council would have to be taken into account, the diplomats said.
The United States called for a tough new resolution, a view supported by Britain, but Russia said there was existing authority from the council for inspections to resume, the diplomats said. France said it agreed there was a need to clarify the mission but that it was time to move ahead rapidly and with unanimity.
A U.S. official said the United States was "very pleased" that Blix said there were loose ends. "We feel very confident that as we move forward here, a new resolution is needed and other council members will come to the determination that these loose ends are out there need to be confronted through a new Security Council resolution before any inspectors return," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Also Thursday, Russia issued its first response to the tough U.S. draft resolution Washington wants passed before the inspectors return. The Kremlin said the U.S. document would cause an unnecessary delay.
But British Prime Minister Tony Blair said there was no point sending inspectors without access to Saddam Hussein's palaces and other suspect presidential sights, which remain off-limits to surprise inspections under the deal Blix and Iraq struck on Tuesday.
Russian officials had studied the American draft, which "only strengthened our belief in the correctness of our position in favor of the soonest resumption of inspection activities in Iraq," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov said, according to the Interfax news agency.
"We believe that a sufficient legal base already exists for the resumption of the U.N. inspections," Saltanov said in criticizing the need for the U.S. draft that significantly toughens the inspection regime.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer played down Russia's reaction. "It's not going to surprise anybody that from day to day you're going to see different statements from different leaders."
The British leader, whose diplomats helped draft the U.S. resolution, maintained that U.N. weapons inspectors must have "unfettered, unobstructed access to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs."
"The access we require must include the presidential palaces. It is no good allowing inspectors access to 99 percent of Iraq, if the weapons of mass destruction are actually located and stored and worked on in the remaining 1 percent of Iraq," Blair said at a news conference after his Labor Party's annual gathering in Blackpool, England.
While the United States and Britain will demand that no advance party leave for Iraq until the Security Council agrees on a new resolution governing inspections, other council members - including Syria, Mexico and Mauritius - believe the inspectors can start work now under existing resolutions.
Russia opposes a military operation in Iraq and had insisted that no new Security Council resolution was needed. But Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Wednesday that Moscow was willing to consider whether a new resolution was necessary "for the efficient work of the inspectors."
On Thursday, however, Ivanov returned to previous formulations, saying he favored a quick return of inspectors to "answer the question whether Iraq has or has not mass-destruction weapons."
The United States and Britain are demanding a nearly total revamping of the rules under which the inspections would be carried out.
"A new resolution is absolutely essential," Blair told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday. "The harder the international community is, the clearer the message we send, the greater the likelihood of avoiding conflict."
 World Fact Book (CIA))]
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