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Russia Wants Iraq Inspections Over
By Robert H. Reid
Associated Press Writer
Friday, April 24, 1998; 8:02 p.m. EDT
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Russia is urging an end to
wide-ranging inspections of Iraq's suspected nuclear
facilities, claiming there's no evidence that the
Mideast nation was still trying to build nuclear
weapons.
Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov on Friday confirmed
circulating such a proposal among the 15 Security
Council members. But Lavrov said he would not insist on
immediate action when the council meets Monday to
review the 7-year-old economic sanctions against Iraq.
``I'm sure we are not going to table it,'' Lavrov said
after consulting throughout the day with other council
ambassadors. ``We submitted it only yesterday, and ...
we want others to have time to react.''
Diplomats said the Russians wanted to try to win over
the Americans and the British before pushing for a
decision. The diplomats, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said consultations would continue through
the weekend.
In offering the proposal, the Russians cited a report
this month by the International Atomic Energy Agency
that says it found no indication that Iraq was still
trying to construct nuclear arms.
Lavrov said ``it is time for the council to recognize''
the findings of the latest IAEA report. Lavrov said he
would make this argument during Monday's council
meeting even if he did not submit a formal resolution.
If approved, the Russian proposal would not end all
international surveillance of Iraq's nuclear research
programs. But it would shift to ``passive monitoring''
of known Iraqi research facilities.
It would sharply curtail the wide-ranging
investigations of suspected clandestine nuclear
research facilities, which the IAEA has carried out
since 1991 along with the U.N. Special Commission,
which is looking for banned long-range missiles and
biological and chemical weapons.
Such a resolution, if approved, would have no effect on
the commission's inspections for missiles, chemical and
biological weapons.
Both the commission and the IAEA must certify that Iraq
has dismantled all proscribed weapons before the
Security Council will lift economic sanctions imposed
in 1990 after President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
Last week, the executive chairman of the U.N. Special
Commission, Richard Butler, reported it had made
``virtually no progress'' over the last six months in
determining whether Iraq is still holding long-range
missiles and chemical and biological weapons.
Diplomats said the United States was the major
stumbling block.
In Washington, State Department spokesman James Rubin
said Iraq must first provide more information about
previous efforts to conceal its secret nuclear research
program.
``Clearly, there has been progress in the area of
understanding what Iraq did, and what it is now unable
to do in the nuclear area,'' Rubin said. ``But ... Iraq
has to answer questions that it has refused to answer
about this area as well; namely in the area of
concealment.''
As a permanent council member, Washington could veto
the Russian proposal, although the Americans would
prefer not to do so to avoid appearing isolated on the
sensitive Iraq issue.
In February, the United States and Britain backed off a
threat to bomb Iraq after Secretary-General Kofi Annan
convinced the Iraqi government to open all sites,
including presidential palaces, to U.N. inspectors.
The United States failed to win broad support among the
Arabs and others for military action against Iraq.
On Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson told a
House committee in Washington that he expected Iraq and
its supporters to mount an effort to lift the sanctions
next week. He also said the United States would oppose
any efforts to weaken the resolution's disarmament
provisions.
But diplomats say there is considerable support within
the 15-member council for acknowledging Iraqi progress
in the nuclear field.
British Ambassador John Weston said his government did
not oppose acknowledging progress but considered the
Russian proposal ``unbalanced.''
In Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Yves
Doutriaux said Iraqi progress in the nuclear area
``seems clearly very significant'' and it seemed time
to end the inspections and shift to long-term
surveillance.
© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press
Iraq Wants U.N. Sanctions Lifted
By Robert H. Reid
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, April 23, 1998; 7:50 p.m. EDT
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Iraq demanded Thursday that the
United Nations end its crippling trade embargo,
accusing U.N. arms inspectors of spreading ``fallacies
and lies'' about its weapons program.
In Washington, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said
the Clinton administration has ``seen insufficient
grounds'' to lift the sanctions and said Iraq must
comply ``with a whole host'' of requirements before the
embargo is removed.
Bill Richardson, the U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations, predicted Iraq and its supporters would mount
an effort to lift the sanctions when the Security
Council holds its six-month review of Iraqi sanctions
Monday.
``We will oppose it on the grounds that they're not
fully complying with Security Council resolutions,''
Richardson told a House committee, saying the United
States would also oppose any efforts to weaken the
resolution's disarmament provisions.
U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said Russia may offer a resolution to effectively
declare Iraq had complied with U.N. orders to dismantle
its nuclear weapons program.
The Monday review will be the first since U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan signed an agreement with
the Iraqis in February to allow inspectors to visit
Saddam's eight presidential compounds.
Such reviews are conducted behind closed doors. U.N.
sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
council agreed to a Russian request to allow Iraq's
foreign minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, to meet
informally with all 15 council members after the review
to put Baghdad's case directly to them.
Diplomatic sources said the Russians hope the meeting
will generate greater opposition within the council to
the hard-line U.S. and British positions against Iraq.
Iraq's demand was contained in a 22-page letter sent by
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz to Annan and the
council president, Ambassador Hisashi Owada of Japan.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The
Associated Press, was in response to the latest
six-month report by the U.N. Special Commission, which
found that ``virtually no progress'' had been made in
verifying whether Iraq has destroyed banned weapons.
That is the main condition for the Security Council to
lift crippling economic sanctions imposed on Iraq in
1990 after President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
In his report, submitted to the council last Friday,
chief U.N. inspector Richard Butler said major gaps in
knowledge of key Iraqi weapons programs remain,
especially about biological weaponry.
``Weapons research into other systems ... is
inadequately described (by the Iraqis),'' Butler said.
``This lack of candor raises the possibility of
research or development of undisclosed systems.''
In his response, Aziz claimed the commission report
``contains a large volume of tremendous and flagrant
fallacies and lies ... (aimed at) justifying the
continuation of the unjust embargo.''
``It is evident that there is an attack of a political
nature, rather than a technical or scientific one,''
Aziz said. He called on the council to put an end to
``the endless, fruitless and provocative'' inspections
which are directed ``at collecting intelligence
information for the United States of America.''
U.N. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said the letter contained mostly argumentation rather
than offering evidence to counter the commission's
allegations.
Iraq's refusal to open those sites prompted the United
States and Britain to send thousands of troops, planes
and aircraft carriers to the Persian Gulf and threaten
air strikes. The threat was reduced by the Annan
agreement.
© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press
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