At a press conference at the United Nations on Monday, Secretary
General Kofi Annan is reported to have expressed the hope that
the Security Council will listen to the concerns of the
Government of Iraq about the work of the United Nations Special
Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq, once it complies with the Security
Council resolutions. The press conference took place following
the return of the Secretary-General's special mission to Iraq,
comprised of three special envoys. He sent the mission to defuse
the situation created after Iraq barred U.S. weapons inspectors
from entering military sites.
According to the Secretary-General, all Iraq needs to do is
comply "with the obligations under all relevant (Security
Council) resolutions." He said that once that is done, he
expected the Security Council would, in turn, be prepared to
listen to Iraq and to its grievances. He said that it is an issue
between Iraq and the Security Council.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz also addressed the
press conference. He said that Iraqi officials had explained to
the Secretary-General's mission the concerns and grievances which
Iraq has been suffering since 1991. He said the Iraqis were
concerned about the "unbalanced" composition of the UNSCOM. "The
Americans dominate the Commission," he said. "In 1996 the
percentage of their presence was 44 percent among other
nationalities." This year, he said, their presence is 32 percent
as compared to the French presence of five percent.
Mr. Aziz said that all the leading positions in the
headquarters of UNSCOM have been held by Americans. He also
charged that "those who created the crisis which provoked the
Council to take further decisions against Iraq" were Americans.
Mr. Aziz said that the United States will not agree with the
lifting of sanctions unless the leadership of Iraq was changed.
He also accused the members of UNSCOM of intruding on Iraq's
national security by collecting information on security "and at
the same time, the main source of information of UNSCOM is an
American source, the U2 spying plane" which collects
information about Iraq, and gives UNSCOM selected information.
"I cannot trust that the Special Commission is in full
control of that plane and what that plane provides to the Special
Commission is impartial, technical information," Mr. Aziz said.
He also charged that the U2 spy plane entered Iraq one or two
days before the military attacks which the United States
conducted against Iraq in January and June 1993, and in September
1996.
Mr. Aziz also called the deal whereby Iraq is
allowed to sell about $2 billion worth of oil every six months in
order to buy food and medicine for its people suffering under
sanctions, "a farce." He said U.S. officials insisted on finding
mistakes in contracts the Security Council's sanctions committee
has to approve, thereby delaying the needed supplies.
The leader of the Secretary-General's mission to Iraq,
Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, told the press that he thought the
situation "is extremely serious."
The United States resumed the flights of its U2 spy planes
over central Iraq on Monday. Mohamed al-Sahaf, Iraq's Foreign
Minister, sent a letter to Kofi Annan in which he said that Iraq
now considered the U2 flights alien aircraft and not part of the
U.N. weapons surveillance program. He said the flight was
"escorted by several formations of American aircraft" and
violated Iraqi sovereignty.
President Bill Clinton told reporters at the White House
that "The next step is to get a very strong resolution from the
United Nations manifesting the determination of the international
community to resume those inspections."
French Ambassador to the U.N. Alain Dejammet said that if
Iraq rescinded its decision (to bar U.S. inspectors), "then it
will be possible to reopen the dialogue." "We are not going to
negotiate but will listen," he said.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and Russian
Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov demanded that "Iraq immediately
resume cooperation with the United Nations." But they also
declared themselves against a military strike, urging all parties
"to adopt an attitude of restraint and avoid any escalation of
contradictions, especially in terms of military conflict."
Britain and Germany called on Iraq to rescind the ban
against American arms inspectors. Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd
Axworthy said that the United Nations, not the United States,
should solve the crisis.
TML DAILY, 11/97
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
