'Seize This Opportunity'
Iraq Indicates It Will Comply
By Russell Taylor for the Chronicle
| Home | In This Issue | Archive | Français | Contact Us | Subscribe | Links |
| Article | ||
Immediately after the vote, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that "how this crisis is resolved will affect greatly the course of peace and security in the region and the world". He urged Iraq to "seize this opportunity" and meet the Council's demands, and appealed to all Governments with influence to remain engaged. The two original sponsors of the resolution-the United States and the United Kingdom-welcomed its adoption. United States President George Bush said: "Now comes the hard part: the Security Council must maintain its unity and sense of purpose so that the Iraqi regime cannot revert to the strategies of obstruction and deception it used so successfully in the past." Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom warned Iraq that if it defied the United Nations, "we will disarm you by force". Council President Zhang Yishan of China said that a "message of peace, a message of goodwill, a message of hope" had been sent. "Now the ball is in the hands of the Iraqi Government, and we hope that Iraq will comply fully and unconditionally." He stressed that the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as its legitimate concerns, should be respected. Calling the resolution a "positive and constructive compromise text", Ambassador Martin Belinga-Eboutou of Cameroon said it did not "constitute victory for any particular fight, but rather for international peace and security". In a 13 November letter, as the Chronicle was going to press, Iraq indicated its willingness to accept the return of weapons inspectors-a move immediately welcomed by the Council President. Iraqi Ambassador Mohammad Al-Douri said his country was "prepared to receive the inspectors within the assigned timetable". He told reporters in New York: "We are eager to see them perform their duties in accordance with international law as soon as possible." Mr. Zhang Yishan said he had been contacted by Mr. Al-Douri with the news of a letter of acceptance from Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, adding that Council members welcomed the "correct" decision by the Iraqi Government and that they would like to see that resolution 1441 be implemented "fully and very effectively". The resolution describes Iraq as remaining in "material breach" of a decade of previous resolutions, in particular through its failure to cooperate with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It hands the weapons inspection teams a strongly enhanced mandate to re-enter Iraq-after an absence of nearly four years-and gain "immediate, unimpeded, unconditional, and unrestricted access to any and all, including underground, areas, facilities, buildings, equipment, records, and means of transport which they wish to inspect, as well as immediate, unimpeded, unrestricted, and private access to all officials and other persons whom UNMOVIC or the IAEA wish to interview". Previously, inspectors had to provide notice before inspections and to work under diplomatic escort; now they will be required to go back to the Security Council to report on any failure by Iraq to fulfill its obligations. The Council deplored the fact that Iraq had not provided an accurate and complete disclosure, either of all aspects of its programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 kilometres, or of all its holdings of such weapons. It further deplored that Iraq had repeatedly obstructed unrestricted access to designated sites. The Council also said that Iraq had failed to comply with its commitments pursuant to resolution 687 (1991) with regard to terrorism, and under resolution 688 (1991) to end repression of its civilian population and provide access by international humanitarian organizations to all those in need of assistance in Iraq. An advance team of weapons inspectors was expected to be on the ground by 18 November. The team will be headed by UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix and IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. UNMOVIC, which is financed from a small portion of the monies raised from the export of oil from Iraq-the "oil-for-food" programme-is responsible for investigating and destabilizing chemical, biological and missile programmes. The IAEA Iraq Action Team conducts its work with the assistance and cooperation of UNMOVIC and is responsible for uncovering and dismantling any possible nuclear programme. |
| Humanitarian Problems Remain |
| The United Nations "oil-for-food" programme, which allows Iraq to sell oil to buy food and other humanitarian goods, has significantly improved the country's humanitarian situation, but acute problems remain, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released on 15 November. "Despite its shortcomings, the programme has made and continues to make a major difference in the lives of ordinary Iraqis", according to the report. While streamlined procedures have accelerated the programme, falling oil sales by Iraq have had a negative impact. Mr. Annan acknowledged the prevailing political circumstances surrounding Iraq, but said that "while, understandably, the current discussions are focused on the resumption of the weapons inspection regime, I should like to appeal to all concerned to also focus attention on the humanitarian dimension and to spare no effort in meeting the dire humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people". The report notes that the oil-for-food programme has improved the overall socio-economic conditions of the Iraqi people, and prevented the further degradation of public services and infrastructure. In several areas, the programme has stabilized and improved access to humanitarian goods and services. Positive developments in health include a 40-per-cent increase in major surgeries compared to 1997 in the centre and south, where there has also been a reduction in a number of communicable diseases. Immunization drives have rendered Iraq polio-free; however, there are still shortages of certain drugs because of concerns by members of the Security Council Sanctions Committee that these could have military applications. Pharmaceuticals for treating leukaemia and cancer are also in short supply, owing in part to the insufficient financial allocation by the Iraqi Government. While malnutrition among children under five remains relatively high, it has been arrested and reversed in the centre and south, and the rates in 2002 are half those of 1996. In the education sector, the distribution of 1.2 million school desks has met 60 per cent of the need in those areas. While calling this a "great improvement" over previous years, Mr. Annan says: "Schools countrywide do not provide an environment conducive to learning; overcrowding and double shifts are the norm, a situation that requires urgent attention." The oil-for-food programme was set up in 1996 to ease the worst impact of sanctions-including a ban on oil sales-imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. |
| Home | In This Issue | Archive | Français | Contact Us | Subscribe | Links |