POLITICS-IRAQ: UNSCOM Chief Defends Weapons Deal

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 26 1998 (IPS) - Richard Butler, the head of the U.N. commission which must verify the destruction of Iraq’s weapons arsenal, Thursday defended the latest U.N. agreement with Baghdad on inspections as a step forward for his team’s disarmament work.

Many U.S. politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, have argued this week that the agreement weakens the authority of the the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) weapons inspectors – of which Butler is executive chairman.

Butler told reporters, however, that he welcomed the deal and that it would strengthen UNSCOM’s work.

The agreement, signed Monday in Baghdad by U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, not only states that UNSCOM “must have immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access” to all suspected weapons sites, but was negotiated “at a very high political level,” Butler said.

In particular, the UNSCOM chief noted the direct involvement of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who met with Annan on Sunday, in negotiating the ‘memorandum of understanding’ signed the following day.

As recently as December, Butler argued, Aziz had informed him that there were eight presidential complexes in Iraq, containing more than 1,000 buildings, that would be “absolutely off-limits” to UNSCOM. This declaration provoked a political crisis and the build-up of more than 25,000 U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.

Now, the UNSCOM chairman added, the agreement has allowed even those sites to be open for inspections if needed.

The United States – which has accepted the deal in principle – has nevertheless raised concerns that those eight sites will be inspected by a ‘Special Group’ comprising UNSCOM and International Atomic Energy Agency officials and diplomats. That group, in turn, is to follow “specific detailed procedures which will be developed given the special nature of the presidential sites,” according to the memorandum.

On Thursday, Annan named Jayantha Dhanapala, a Sri Lankan diplomat who was selected last month to become U.N. Under- Secretary-General for Disarmament, to chair the special group.

The Sri Lankan diplomat’s selection has puzzled some officials who wondered what would be the line of authority between him and Butler. Dhanapala will be in charge of the inspections of the presidential sites, but under the accord is to report to the U.N. Security Council through Butler.

“The analysis (of the eight sites) will be conducted by UNSCOM,” Butler said. “These lines of authority and reporting are clear, and I find them entirely satisfactory.”

Although U.S. President Bill Clinton deemed the Annan-Aziz agreement as acceptable, others raised doubts that the new lines of command were either clear or satisfactory.

The Washington Post, in an editorial Thursday, criticised the deal for allowing the disputed buildings to be inspected “not by U.N. arms chief Ambassador Richard Butler’s proven operation, but by a new bureaucracy led by a commissioner who will report to Mr Annan or to a political representative appointed by him.” (Several news reports have also alleged that Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi may take up a post as U.N. political envoy to Baghdad.)

Butler, however, denied that the agreement added new layers of bureaucracy or would hinder inspections. “We’re ready to do our job,” and would carry out any needed investigations of the presidential sites as soon as possible, he added.

Lott and Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina urged the Clinton administration to reject the deal, and disputed Annan’s right to negotiate with Hussein at all. “I cannot understand why the Clinton administration would place trust in someone devoted to building a human relationship with a mass murderer,” Lott said Wednesday.

Annan, in a message to U.N. staff, said that it is “not unexpected that there would be criticism of us.” However, he warned, “the alternative to the agreement would be the end of UNSCOM’s work.”

The Clinton administration, which only grudgingly approved of Annan’s trip to Baghdad last week, has in recent days swung more firmly behind the memorandum of understanding. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Thursday that Washington has been assured of Butler’s authority over all inspections procedures and his increased access to Iraqi sites.

“If Ambassador Butler, as chairman of UNSCOM, is able to carry out his duties, then I think that we should understand that we are really better off than we were, because we are better off in combatting this threat,” she said.

U.S. President Bill Clinton, however, has affirmed that Washington will maintain its troops in the Gulf until it can be certain that the agreement will be honoured.

If Baghdad reneges, Albright added, “we will have support for using other methods, and military force, to make sure that (Hussein’s) weapons of mass destruction threat is diminished and he can’t threaten his neighbours.”

The United States and Britain in recent days have pushed for the 15-nation Security Council to approve a resolution which would affirm Iraq’s obligation to uphold the memorandum of understanding, and would spell out consequences if it fails to do so.

Japan is considering supporting that resolution, but two veto- holding permanent Council members – France and Russia – so far have objected to including any strong threats of punishment.