US threatens to thwart
inspectors' return to Iraq
Times Online
By Richard Beeston, Roland Watson, James Bone and Michael
Evans
October 02, 2002
PROGRESS between Iraq and the United Nations hit an immediate
snag last night when Washington said that it would work to block
the swift return of weapons inspectors.
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, said that the
inspectors should not go back to Iraq until they had received new
instructions from the UN Security Council.
His intervention came after Iraqi officials in Vienna reached
a comprehensive agreement with Hans Blix, the UN's chief
weapons inspector, that could see inspectors back in Baghdad
within two weeks after a four-year absence.
The deal, to be presented to the Security Council tomorrow,
put Britain and the United States on the spot. London and
Washington want a new UN resolution to authorise force if
President Saddam Hussein obstructs the inspections. They are
fighting France, China and Russia, all with a veto on the
Security Council, who want inspectors to return as soon as
possible.
General Powell's reaction last night hinted at American
unease. He said: "Before we declare that everything is OK
today, not one inspector has set foot in Iraq and not one thing
has changed since 1998.'
One State Department official said that the United States
would "thwart' the return of inspectors until they
had fresh instructions from the Security Council.
The State Department has prepared a contingency plan, which
may now gain momentum. The compromise would see the US agree to
two UN resolutions, an idea proposed by France.
General Powell insisted last night that the American
preference was for one resolution, which authorised force if
Saddam blocked inspections. But he conceded that there were
"different views on how this should be packaged'.
London is happy to go along with the idea of two, especially
if it breaks the deadlock on the Security Council. The second
resolution would carry the authorisation of force, with the key
stipluation that its wording be agreed in advance.
President Bush said yesterday that he wanted a Security
Council agreement that was strong. "The UN must show some
backbone. We'll work with members of the Security Council
to put a little calcium there, put calcium in the
backbone.'
Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, welcomed the agreement to
send United Nations weapons inspectors back to Iraq, but said
that it did not replace the need for a tough new Security Council
resolution to put pressure on Saddam.
In another nod to the Security Council's more cautious
members, Mr Bush also emphasised three times that his priority
was to disarm Saddam. He said that the military option was
"not the first choice' and that he had not made up
his mind whether to go to war. He did not mention "regime
change' once.
Saddam told Washington last night that its defiance of world
opinion would only make the United States more hated and
ultimately bring disaster, whatever its military strength. He
told a meeting of his Cabinet: "Iraq has accepted the
return of inspectors, but they (the US) continue to beat the
drums of war, to spread lies and press the Security Council to
adopt new resolutions in violation of international
law.'
After two days of talks Mr Blix said in a statement:
"The Iraqi representatives declared that Iraq accepts all
the rights of inspections provided for in all the relevant UN
Security Council resolutions. It was clarified that all sites are
subject to immediate, unconditional and unrestricted
access.' He gave few details ahead of his meeting with the
UN Security Council tomorrow, but suggested that Iraq had dropped
its objections to inspectors visiting so-called "sensitive
sites'.
Details of the agreement
# Iraq handed over four CD-Roms containing information
regarding equipment, substances and technology that could be used
in the production of weapons of mass destruction
# Iraq agreed to allow UN inspectors "immediate,
unconditional and unrestricted access' to to all sites in
Iraq
# The only exceptions are eight presidential sites, where
restricted access will apply according to an existing agreement
with the UN
# An advance team of UN weapons inspectors is expected back in
Baghdad in the next two weeks
# Iraq has agreed to technical details covering transport,
communications, security and accommodation for UN inspectors,
except for flights by UN aircraft into the no-fly zones
# Iraq agreed to allow UN inspectors to open regional offices in
Basra, the southern capital, and Mosul in the north
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