Staff withdrawal
from Iraq - 17 March 2003
On
17 March 2003, the United Nations Secretary-General informed the
Security Council that he was no longer in a position to guarantee
the safety and security of the United Nations personnel in Iraq.
Accordingly, he was obliged to withdraw temporarily all remaining
humanitarian personnel as well as personnel of the United Nations
Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all military and
civilian personnel of the United Nations Iraq Kuwait Observation
Mission (UNIKOM) in Iraq. The Secretary-General noted that he was
aware that these measures would lead to the suspension of the
activities of the humanitarian programme in Iraq pursuant to
resolution 986 (1995). However, the threat to the safety and
security of the personnel concerned had in effect rendered their
mandates inoperable. The Secretary-General stated, for the record,
that he regards those activities as suspended de facto. The mandates
established by the relevant Security Council resolutions under which
these activities are carried out remain in force until such time as
the Security Council should decide otherwise. The above implies that
the mandate of the oil-for-food programme remains in force until
such time as the Security Council should decide otherwise, and the
functions performed by the UN under the programme outside Iraq would
continue. Following the meeting of the Security Council on 17 March
2003, the Secretary-General stated:
"This
does not mean that, should war come to Iraq, the UN will sit back
and not do anything to help the Iraqi population. We will find a way
of resuming our humanitarian activities to help the Iraqi people who
have suffered so long, and do whatever we can to give them
assistance and support. And, as you know, we have undertaken
contingency planning to be able to move forward as soon as we
can."