DISARMAMENT: UN-Iraq Move Closer on Demilitarisation

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 16 1998 (IPS) - The United Nations and Iraq have agreed on a mid-August deadline to complete the ongoing process of disarmament that could eventually lead to the lifting of U.N. sanctions against Baghdad.

After meeting with Iraqi officials over the weekend, Richard Butler – head of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) – expressed the hope he could wrap up things in 60 days if Iraq continued to show the “excellent cooperation” of recent days.

Pointing out that he had completed “some very searching talks”, Butler said his weekend discussions in Baghdad were aimed at bringing to an end “as soon as possible” the process of disarming Iraq and destroying all its weapons of mass destruction.

“The confrontation between Iraq and UNSCOM is hopefully at an end,” one U.N. official told IPS in New York. “But we still have to keep our fingers crossed.”

In a dramatic turnaround, Butler hinted that his next submission to the Security Council may be positive – breaking away from the rash of critical reports on Iraqi non-cooperation. The Council will meet in October to continue its ongoing review of the eight-year-old economic and military sanctions imposed on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.

As part of the peace agreement following the 1991 Gulf War, the Security Council authorised UNSCOM to ensure the destruction of Iraq’s nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, including the knowhow to build such weapons. UNSCOM is also seeking to eliminate all long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear and other warheads.

Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who generally criticizes UNSCOM officials, admitted that he had a fruitful meeting with Butler and his 18-member team over the weekend. “The exchange of views and discussions were businesslike and professional. We have made good progress, and we will meet again in August,” Aziz said.

Butler provided a “road map” that spells out the requirements to speed up the final verification of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

“I am confident if Iraq follows the road map, and we do our work quickly, I will present an October report that is very different from other reports,” the UNSCOM chief said.

Iraq’s decision to cooperate with UNSCOM followed an agreement between Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in February this year. Annan visited Baghdad to clinch the agreement. As a result of the agreement, U.N. inspectors were permitted to visit “presidential sites”, which until then, were deemed out-of-bounds.

An equally positive feedback came from Baghdad from Prakash Shah, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy to Iraq. In an interview with a British newspaper Shah said that UNSCOM had worked for seven years and, by their own admission, destroyed more Iraqi weapons than in the Gulf War.

“They have done remarkable job and it is only appropriate this is recognised, and UNSCOM is able to put forward a report that lists the achievements so a political decision can be takn by the Security Council,” Shah said.

However, after the last Security Council review of sanctions in early June, U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson said that even though he was willing to concede that Iraq had made some progress in cooperating with U.N. arms inspectors and in dismantling its nuclear programme, Washington was still sceptical of Baghdad’s claims that it had eliminated all its programmes involving chemical and biological weapons and its long-range missiles.

As long as these programmes exist, the U.S. would not support any moves to lift sanctions, Richardson warned.

After examining satellite photographs of Iraq’s secretive long- range missile programmes, Richardson said the U.S. was convinced that Iraq was still concealing some of its weapons programmes from U.N. inspectors. “Iraq’s credibility has been dealt a devastating blow,” he added.

In early June, Butler told the Security Council that Iraqi assertions that it had destroyed missile launchers did not match photographs in the possession of the United Nations. The photographs were picked up by American U-2 spy planes on loan to the United Nations, and satellite imagery provided by other governments.

Butler also told the Council that there were several unanswered questions on the disposition of missile propellants and warheads.

The U.N.’s list of priority disarmament issues includes the need for Iraq to complete accounting of its warhead materials, provide the records for the destruction of missile propellants, and detail indigenous production of missiles. UNSCOM also wants Iraq to account for special chemical-filled warheads, including quantities of mustard shells and ‘VX’ warfare agent which Baghdad claims it has destroyed; and to provide more details on its production of biological weapons.