*EPF505 11/08/2002
Security Council Sends United Message to Iraq
(U.N. Gives Baghdad one final opportunity to disarm) (1090)

By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- The Security Council November 8 voted unanimously to toughen the U.N. weapons inspection regime and give Baghdad what it called one "final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" or "face serious consequences."

In adopting a draft resolution co-sponsored by the United States and the United Kingdom, the council strengthened the mandate of the U.N. weapons inspectors and removed any loopholes such as those that allowed Iraq to destroy or spirit away documents, as it did during previous inspections that ended in 1998.

All 15 council members voted for the resolution: permanent members China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and non-permanent members Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Guinea, Ireland, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, and Syria.

The resolution, number 1441, establishes an enhanced inspection regime for Iraq's disarmament, which will be carried out and verified by the U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iraq has seven days to accept the resolution and 30 days to provide the United Nations with a complete accounting of all aspects of its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and ballistic missiles systems, as well as information on other chemical, biological, and nuclear programs that are supposed to be for civilian purposes.

A key point included in the resolution to maintain unanimity in the council provides for further council talks on any action to be taken if Iraq does not comply.

U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said that "for 11 years, without success, we have tried a variety of ways, including diplomacy, inspections, and economic sanctions to obtain Iraqi compliance. By this resolution we are now united in trying a different course. That course is to send a clear message to Iraq insisting on its disarmament in the area of weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems, or face the consequences."

The ambassador urged all member states to press Iraq to cooperate fully with UNMOVIC and the IAEA.

"This resolution affords Iraq a final opportunity," stressed Negroponte, who is the chief U.S. envoy to the United Nations.

"The secretary general said on September 12: 'If Iraq's defiance continues, the Security Council must face its responsibilities.' We concur with the wisdom of his remarks," Negroponte continued. "Members can rely on the United States to live up to its responsibilities if the Iraq regime persists with its refusal to disarm."

In his speech to the council after the vote, Negroponte addressed remarks to the government of Iraq, the other Security Council members, the chief weapons inspectors, and the Arab world.

"To the Government of Iraq, our message is simple: non-compliance no longer is an option," he said.

"To our colleagues on the Security Council, our message is one of partnership: ... we have come together, recognizing that our collective security is at stake and that we must meet this challenge, as proposed by President Bush on September 12," the ambassador said.

To Secretary General Kofi Annan; Hans Blix, executive chairman of UNMOVIC; and Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA director general, he pledged the full support of the United States and urged them "to make full use of the tools given you" in the resolution.

To the governments and peoples of the Arab world, including the people of Iraq, Negroponte said, "the purpose of this resolution is to open the way to a peaceful solution of this issue. That is the intention and wish of my government. When the Baghdad regime claims that the United States is seeking to wage war on the Arab world, nothing could be further from the truth."

The resolution states that Iraq remains in "material breach" of council resolutions relating to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. It gives UNMOVIC and IAEA, among other things, unrestricted rights of entry and travel into and throughout Iraq; provides for U.N. security for the inspectors; gives the inspectors the right to freeze sites and declare exclusion zones; and gives them the right to conduct interviews inside or outside the country without the presence of Iraqi officials. Most importantly, it gives the inspectors immediate, unconditional, and unrestricted access to all sites in Iraq, including so-called presidential sites.

The resolution directs Blix and ElBaradei to "report immediately to the council any interference by Iraq with inspection activities as well as any failure by Iraq to comply with its disarmament obligations." The council then is to "convene immediately ... in order to consider the situation and the need for full compliance with all of the relevant council resolutions in order to secure international peace and security," it says.

Finally, it warns Iraq that "it will face serious consequences" if it continues to violate its obligations spelled out in the resolution.

Secretary General Kofi Annan told the council that the resolution "has strengthened the cause of peace and given renewed impetus to the search for security in an increasingly dangerous world."

In his remarks, the secretary general praised the council for working to negotiate a text that all council members could support, and he urged Iraq to comply.

"Whenever the council is united, it sends a very powerful signal. I hope that Iraq will heed that signal," Annan said. "If Iraq's defiance continues, however, the Security Council must face its responsibilities."

"The road ahead will be difficult and dangerous," but, empowered by the resolution, UNMOVIC and IAEA stand equipped to carry out their vital task, the secretary general said.

"I urge the Iraqi leadership -- for the sake of its own people, and for the sake of world security and world order -- to seize this opportunity and thereby begin to end the isolation and suffering of the Iraqi people," he said.

Other council members voiced their pleasure that a text could be negotiated that would preserve the unity of the council and their hope that Iraq will accept the weapons inspectors and the U.N.'s terms.

British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said that the resolution could be summed in two words: final and opportunity.

"The opportunity is there and the opportunity is final. We now look for the implementation by Iraq," Greenstock said.

"This resolution has three characteristics: clarity, force, and unanimity. And the message that that sends to Iraq and to the region is immensely powerful," the ambassador said.

French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte said the vote was a "success for the Security Council and the United Nations. This success must now become a success for peace."

"War can only be a last recourse. The rules are clear and demanding: ... They require full cooperation by Iraqi leaders if Iraq wishes to avoid confrontation. It must understand that this is the final one," the ambassador said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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