POLITICS-IRAQ: UN Diplomats Heading for Baghdad

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 9 1998 (IPS) - The four-month crisis over Iraq has cooled off at the United Nations pending the arrival in Baghdad of two senior diplomats to develop better relations with the government of President Saddam Hussein.

Some 35,000 U.S. troops, neverthless, are still in the Persian Gulf region in case Baghdad does not comply with U.N. demands for full access by weapons inspectors of all sites suspected of containing components of biological, chemical, nuclear or long- range weaponry.

The new U.N. envoy to Iraq Prakash Shah and Jayantha Dhanapala, head of a special team of diplomats designated to assist the inspections of eight presidential complexes, are spearheading U.N efforts this week for better ties with Baghdad.

“It’s very clear that the secretary-general feels that there is the need for improved lines of communication between the government of Iraq and U.N. headquarters,” Shah said Monday. The newly-appointed envoy said he leave for Baghdad Wednesday to spend several days there and will return to Iraq again later this month to set up his new office.

Shah, formerly India’s U.N. ambassador, is expected to smooth any ruffled feathers caused by what Iraq has complained is the dominance of the United States among the weapons inspections teams of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM). He told reporters that he would not be a “soft touch” but added that he hoped to clear up any misunderstandings that might arise.

Dhanapala, a Sri Lankan diplomat who was named to be U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament in January, will be consulting with Iraqi officials as he tries to build a team of diplomats who can accompany UNSCOM or the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as they inspect Iraqi presidential sites.

Dhanapala left for Baghdad Monday night to begin his consultations. He expects to receive nominations by the end of this week from qualified diplomats to join his team (called the ‘Special Group’), and to begin to plan inspections with UNSCOM Executive Chairman Richard Butler within the next few weeks.

“We are giving a preference to those diplomats who are stationed in Baghdad or the region” in drawing up the team, a senior U.N. official said.

Butler and Dhanapala completed plans for how the Special Group will work with UNSCOM this week, and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan presented details to the 15-nation Security Council on Monday. Under the agreement, a U.N. inspection team entering an Iraqi presidential site “shall conduct itself in a manner consonant with the nature of the site,” and will consider any requests Iraqi officials make about the appropriate ways to enter such sites. However, the plan emphasises, that procedure “shall not…impede the ability of the team to fulfil its tasks.”

The plans call for Butler – an Australian diplomat who has been accused of bias by Iraq for his blunt criticism of Baghdad’s concealment of weapons programmes – to remain in charge of determining inspection activity.

Dhanapala, however, would notify the Iraqi government “of the intention to undertake mandated tasks within a presidential site” and of how many diplomats and inspectors would participate in such tasks. The Sri Lankan diplomat would also be capable of reporting any complaints or suggestions made by the Iraqis or by his diplomatic group about UNSCOM’s work to Butler and Annan – ensuring that Baghdad’s sensitivities will be transmitted.

A senior official stressed that diplomats accompanying UNSCOM will not be able to veto any activities planned by the inspection teams.

The agreement to create what some here have called ‘UNSCOM Plus’ satisfied Iraqi officials to drop their efforts to block all inspections of the presidential complexes, which take up 31.5 square kilometres and comprise 1,058 buildings. The standoff with the inspectors raised tensions in the region, with the United States repeatedly threatening it might use force to compel Baghdad to back down.

Annan, in his visit to Baghdad last month, used the ‘UNSCOM Plus’ compromise to steer Iraq back peacefully into accepting the inspectors without losing face. Now, however, the United Nations faces the real test: going ahead with credible investigations which both the United States and Iraq will find acceptable.

The detailed plan, therefore, carries a double message: to Iraq, that the special procedures to look at presidential sites will be carried out “in good faith”; and to the Security Council, that the inspections will not be hindered in any way.

U.S. officials may not be entirely convinced. Some Republican leaders in Congress have in recent days criticised the United Nations of “appeasement” for allowing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to save face. Annan expects to face at least some harsh words when he arrives in Washington on Wednesday to discuss his deal with Iraq.

“There has been criticism from certain Congressional quarters,” U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard conceded, adding that some objections were to be expected. But he added that Annan hoped to meet some Congressional officials during his trip to Washington to clear up any misunderstandings.

He also may face objections over efforts by Russia, Iraq’s main ally on the Council, to have a Russian deputy chairman of UNSCOM work under Butler. Currently, UNSCOM has only one deputy chairman, Charles Duelfer of the United States; to have another deputy post, the Council would have to create one formally in a new vote, Eckhard noted.

The United States may veto that proposal if it comes up in the Council. U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson argued recently that there is no need to “balance (UNSCOM) with either ethnic or regional components.”