> > AS: > The UN seemed entirely capable of commisioning a team of experts to find > out what Iraq is up to (called UNSCOM) but when it comes to the US, they > say they are not Scotland Yard. I don't think there there were not weapons specialists > in the UN before UNSCOM was contracted either. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > /** ips.english: 414.0 **/ > ** Topic: POLITICS-IRAQ: UN Lacks Expertise to Probe Spy Charges ** > ** Written 3:03 PM Jan 11, 1999 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.english ** > Copyright 1999 InterPress Service, all rights reserved. > Worldwide distribution via the APC networks. > > *** 08-Jan-99 *** > > Title: POLITICS-IRAQ: UN Lacks Expertise to Probe Spy Charges > > By Thalif Deen and IPS Correspondents > > UNITED NATIONS, Jan 8 (IPS) - The United Nations says it has no > plans to probe published reports that some of its arms inspectors > in Iraq were U.S. spies working undercover for U.S. intelligence > agencies. > > ''The United Nations is not Scotland Yard,'' U.N. spokesman > Fred Eckhard told reporters Thursday. ''We have no professional > investigators on our staff. We don't have that capability.'' > > Eckhard said Secretary-General Kofi Annan had to accept at > face value assertions by chief arms inspector Richard Butler that > no member of his team spied for the United States. ''We sit and > wait for corroboration,'' Eckhard added. > > Butler is the executive chairman of the U.N. Special > Commission (UNSCOM), which was mandated by the Security Council > after the 1991 Gulf War to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass > destruction and missiles that could be used to deliver them. > > The reports about the alleged use by Washington of UNSCOM to > spy on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his security apparatus, > including new allegations that the United States deliberately > planted spies in UNSCOM teams, have created something of a > diplomatic sensation here and in the U.S. capital where officials > insist that Washington did nothing wrong. > > On Wednesday, the Washington Post had quoted unnamed UN > officials - described as ''confidants'' of Annan - as saying the > Secretary General was convinced Washington used the UN operation > to penetrate the security apparatus protecting Iraqi president > Saddam Hussein. > > But Annan strongly rejected ''the characterisation of his state > of mind attributed to so-called confidants'' and denied that he > had obtained any evidence that would support the article's major > contentions. > > At the same time, however, he noted that if the charges proved > true, ''it would be damaging to the United Nations' disarmament > work in Iraq and elsewhere.'' > > On Thursday, however, the New York Times published an article > quoting unnamed U.S. officials as saying some U.S. intelligence > officers, using diplomatic cover or other professional identities, > served on UNSCOM teams ''to gather intelligence independently.'' > > Their aim reportedly was to collect information about possible > bombing targets for the kind of military strikes which U.S. and > British forces carried out in mid-December, which included alleged > missile-assembly plants, and the headquarters and barracks of > elite security forces which, according to Washington, control > Iraq's chemical and biological weapons and protect the regime's > top figures. > > The Wall Street Journal also reported Thursday that the UNSCOM > team used sophisticated eavesdropping equipment, provided to it by > the United States, that automatically transmitted signals from > Saddam Hussein's presidential communications network to the U.S. > National Security Agency (NSA), which specialises in tapping and > decoding communications. > > The NSA, which is in charge of U.S. spy satellites, then > relayed information relevant to the inspection team while > presumably keeping all the other material collected in this way. > > Citing U.S. officials, the Journal further reported that > UNSCOM relied on Washington for about 90 percent of its > intelligence, while Israel provided much of the rest - a fact > which, these officials worry, could embarrass U.S.-supported Arab > leaders who have recently escalated their verbal attacks on Saddam > Hussein. > > Washington has long insisted that UNSCOM, which has no > intelligence capabilities of its own, must work with foreign > agencies in order to obtain the information it needs to carry out > its mandate, particularly in the face of Iraq's alleged efforts to > hide its weapons programmes from UNSCOM. > > And, because Washington's intelligence apparatus is the world's > largest by far, it is natural, U.S. officials say, that UNSCOM > would rely especially on the United States. > > ''There is nothing new in (what) has emerged in the last two > days,'' State Department spokesman James Foley said Thursday. ''It > has been public knowledge that the United States and many other > nations are assisting UNSCOM in its work. There's nothing new in > the story.'' > > While Foley denied that Washington had planted ''undercover'' > spies in UNSCOM and stressed that everything it had done was at > the request of the inspections body, he skirted the question of > whether Washington may have used intelligence obtained through > UNSCOM for military purposes. > > ''We have acted only to support UNSCOM, number one,'' he told > reporters. ''Number two, our aim and UNSCOM's aim and, presumably, > the aim of every member of the international community but Iraq is > to ... find out, to uncover, to expose, and, hopefully disarm Iraq > of its programmes of weapons of mass destruction.'' > > The latter objective could apply to last month's raids. > > What is new - and distressing - to US officials, is Annan's > alleged unhappiness with the situation and the willingness of > those around him to publicise his feelings. > > U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said Wednesday the > sources for the various news reports were ''those on the 38th > floor of the U.N. (the office of the Secretary-General) who are > focused on these allegedly sexy issues of who did what with whom, > and who learned what when they were in Iraq.'' > > In an editorial titled 'Back-stabbing at the U.N.', the Post > suggested Thursday that Annan and his team were responsible for > planting the stories - anonymously - in both the Post and the > Boston Globe in an effort to force Butler - who has become a > lightning rod for Iraqi, Russian and Chinese criticism of UNSCOM - > to resign. > > However, Eckhard stated categorically that the Secretary- > General was unaware who the supposed ''confidants'' were. ''The > Secretary-General wants to know who spoke to the press - > inaccurately - about him,'' Eckhard said, adding that Annan was > certainly ''not on a witchhunt''. > > According to some U.N. officials, there is no chance that Iraq > will agree to permit UNSCOM to return to Iraq after last month's > raids unless Butler is replaced.(end/ips/td/jl/kb/99) > > Origin: Manila/POLITICS-IRAQ/ > ---- > > [c] 1999, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) > All rights reserved > > May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or > service outside of the APC networks, without specific > permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution > via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists, > print media and broadcast. For information about cross- > posting, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. For > information about print or broadcast reproduction please > contact the IPS coordinator at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > > ** End of text from cdp:ips.english ** > > ********************************************************************** > This material came from the Institute for Global Communications (IGC), a > non-profit, unionized, politically progressive Internet services > provider. For more information, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (you > will get back an automatic reply), or visit their web site at > http://www.igc.org/ . IGC is a project of the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) > charitable organization. > **********************************************************************
AS: The UN seemed entirely capable of commisioning a team of experts to find out what Iraq is up to (called UNSCOM) but when it comes to the US, they say they are not Scotland Yard. There were not weapons specialists in the UN before UNSCOM was contracted either. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- /** ips.english: 414.0 **/ ** Topic: POLITICS-IRAQ: UN Lacks Expertise to Probe Spy Charges ** ** Written 3:03 PM Jan 11, 1999 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.english ** Copyright 1999 InterPress Service, all rights reserved. Worldwide distribution via the APC networks. *** 08-Jan-99 *** Title: POLITICS-IRAQ: UN Lacks Expertise to Probe Spy Charges By Thalif Deen and IPS Correspondents UNITED NATIONS, Jan 8 (IPS) - The United Nations says it has no plans to probe published reports that some of its arms inspectors in Iraq were U.S. spies working undercover for U.S. intelligence agencies. ''The United Nations is not Scotland Yard,'' U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters Thursday. ''We have no professional investigators on our staff. We don't have that capability.'' Eckhard said Secretary-General Kofi Annan had to accept at face value assertions by chief arms inspector Richard Butler that no member of his team spied for the United States. ''We sit and wait for corroboration,'' Eckhard added. Butler is the executive chairman of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM), which was mandated by the Security Council after the 1991 Gulf War to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and missiles that could be used to deliver them. The reports about the alleged use by Washington of UNSCOM to spy on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his security apparatus, including new allegations that the United States deliberately planted spies in UNSCOM teams, have created something of a diplomatic sensation here and in the U.S. capital where officials insist that Washington did nothing wrong. On Wednesday, the Washington Post had quoted unnamed UN officials - described as ''confidants'' of Annan - as saying the Secretary General was convinced Washington used the UN operation to penetrate the security apparatus protecting Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. But Annan strongly rejected ''the characterisation of his state of mind attributed to so-called confidants'' and denied that he had obtained any evidence that would support the article's major contentions. At the same time, however, he noted that if the charges proved true, ''it would be damaging to the United Nations' disarmament work in Iraq and elsewhere.'' On Thursday, however, the New York Times published an article quoting unnamed U.S. officials as saying some U.S. intelligence officers, using diplomatic cover or other professional identities, served on UNSCOM teams ''to gather intelligence independently.'' Their aim reportedly was to collect information about possible bombing targets for the kind of military strikes which U.S. and British forces carried out in mid-December, which included alleged missile-assembly plants, and the headquarters and barracks of elite security forces which, according to Washington, control Iraq's chemical and biological weapons and protect the regime's top figures. The Wall Street Journal also reported Thursday that the UNSCOM team used sophisticated eavesdropping equipment, provided to it by the United States, that automatically transmitted signals from Saddam Hussein's presidential communications network to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), which specialises in tapping and decoding communications. The NSA, which is in charge of U.S. spy satellites, then relayed information relevant to the inspection team while presumably keeping all the other material collected in this way. Citing U.S. officials, the Journal further reported that UNSCOM relied on Washington for about 90 percent of its intelligence, while Israel provided much of the rest - a fact which, these officials worry, could embarrass U.S.-supported Arab leaders who have recently escalated their verbal attacks on Saddam Hussein. Washington has long insisted that UNSCOM, which has no intelligence capabilities of its own, must work with foreign agencies in order to obtain the information it needs to carry out its mandate, particularly in the face of Iraq's alleged efforts to hide its weapons programmes from UNSCOM. And, because Washington's intelligence apparatus is the world's largest by far, it is natural, U.S. officials say, that UNSCOM would rely especially on the United States. ''There is nothing new in (what) has emerged in the last two days,'' State Department spokesman James Foley said Thursday. ''It has been public knowledge that the United States and many other nations are assisting UNSCOM in its work. There's nothing new in the story.'' While Foley denied that Washington had planted ''undercover'' spies in UNSCOM and stressed that everything it had done was at the request of the inspections body, he skirted the question of whether Washington may have used intelligence obtained through UNSCOM for military purposes. ''We have acted only to support UNSCOM, number one,'' he told reporters. ''Number two, our aim and UNSCOM's aim and, presumably, the aim of every member of the international community but Iraq is to ... find out, to uncover, to expose, and, hopefully disarm Iraq of its programmes of weapons of mass destruction.'' The latter objective could apply to last month's raids. What is new - and distressing - to US officials, is Annan's alleged unhappiness with the situation and the willingness of those around him to publicise his feelings. U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said Wednesday the sources for the various news reports were ''those on the 38th floor of the U.N. (the office of the Secretary-General) who are focused on these allegedly sexy issues of who did what with whom, and who learned what when they were in Iraq.'' In an editorial titled 'Back-stabbing at the U.N.', the Post suggested Thursday that Annan and his team were responsible for planting the stories - anonymously - in both the Post and the Boston Globe in an effort to force Butler - who has become a lightning rod for Iraqi, Russian and Chinese criticism of UNSCOM - to resign. However, Eckhard stated categorically that the Secretary- General was unaware who the supposed ''confidants'' were. ''The Secretary-General wants to know who spoke to the press - inaccurately - about him,'' Eckhard said, adding that Annan was certainly ''not on a witchhunt''. According to some U.N. officials, there is no chance that Iraq will agree to permit UNSCOM to return to Iraq after last month's raids unless Butler is replaced.(end/ips/td/jl/kb/99) Origin: Manila/POLITICS-IRAQ/ ---- [c] 1999, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) All rights reserved May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or service outside of the APC networks, without specific permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists, print media and broadcast. For information about cross- posting, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. For information about print or broadcast reproduction please contact the IPS coordinator at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. ** End of text from cdp:ips.english ** ********************************************************************** This material came from the Institute for Global Communications (IGC), a non-profit, unionized, politically progressive Internet services provider. For more information, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (you will get back an automatic reply), or visit their web site at http://www.igc.org/ . IGC is a project of the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. ********************************************************************** ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
