POLITICS-IRAQ: Annan Firmer on Lifting Sanctions

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 14 1998 (IPS) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is pushing more clearly for a timely lifting of U.N. sanctions on Iraq despite signs of fraying relations between U.N. weapons inspectors and the Iraqi government.

In the same week that the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) was to report on Iraqi cooperation with the group’s disarmament activities, Annan pointedly referred to the differences between the U.S. government and remaining membership of the United Nations on Iraq and stated he would follow U.N. guidelines.

“There are areas where Washington’s policies diverge from that of the United Nations,” Annan said Monday on his return to New York from travels to the Middle East and Europe. “I think that one clear case is that of Iraq.”

The U.N. chief noted that, while most U.N. member states believed that the eight-year-old embargo on Iraq should be lifted – once Baghdad completes its disarmament tasks – Washington had insisted on further measures before any sanctions are ended.

Despite Washington’s views, however, “I am guided by U.N. policy,” said Annan.

In words similar to recent demands by Iraq’s allies for lifting the sanctions, Annan emphasised, “The Council’s resolutions are clear, and the Council must implement its own resolutions. Once Iraq has disarmed, the sanctions must be lifted.”

The secretary-general’s words referred to a key paragraph in Security Council resolution 687, which conditions the embargo on all sale of Iraqi oil on Baghdad’s compliance with demands to scrap its chemical, biological, nuclear and long-range missile weapons.

Iraq generally is credited with making progress in eliminating its long-range missiles and nuclear weaponry but UNSCOM remained worried that Baghdad may not have accounted fully for some chemical and biological weapons, including VX gas and weapon-ready botulinum and anthrax.

Iraqi allies in the Security Council – notably France, Russia and China, all of whom held veto power – argued in recent years that, as Baghdad neared its goal of eliminating those weapons, it must be rewarded with the lifting of the oil embargo. But the Council’s two other veto-wielding permanent members, the United States and Britain, resisted that argument.

Washington’s policy is murky. Although U.S. President Bill Clinton often indicated that Iraq must comply with the weapons demands to earn the lifting of sanctions, other officials, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, stressed that Baghdad needed to provide information on missing Kuwaiti prisoners and to improve its human rights record before any action could be taken.

In the past, Annan often resisted voicing an opinion on what the Council’s policy should be in case Iraq made good on the disarmament demands. But with his Monday comments, the secretary- general staked out a line more in tune with that of the critics of continued sanctions.

Nevertheless, as long as Washington was likely to veto any lifting of the embargo, sanctions relief for Iraqis appeared a long way off. Recent tussles between UNSCOM and the Iraqi government were just another sign that any effort to revise the status quo could be slow and troublesome.

Last week, Iraqi officials blocked UNSCOM inspectors from entering the Baghdad headquarters of the ruling Baath Party, arguing that the inspectors would need to provide a list first of the information for which they were looking. UNSCOM Chairman Richard Butler has also objected to Iraq’s refusal to hand over documents about the use of chemical weapons during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Butler was expected this week to give an overall review of Iraq- UNSCOM relations since the two sides agreed to cooperate last month. If the review was positive, the 15-nation Security Council stood ready to evaluate all U.N.-Iraq concerns in a separate “comprehensive review” next month.

If, however, Butler argued that Iraq’s cooperation wasstill lagging, that review could be delayed. Several diplomats here cautioned that Iraq, already frustrated with the duration of sanctions, may then break off contact with UNSCOM, which it has already done several times over the past year.

Several Council diplomats were confident that a review would take place next month. One ambassador, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that all sides expected a January review.

Other outcomes were possible, diplomats conceded. Washington sided with Butler in arguing that all Iraqi blockage of UNSCOM inspections are unacceptable. Butler cited last week’s standoff at the Baath Party headquarters as “very serious”.

Yet Annan has tried to mute the controversy over Butler, a blunt Australian diplomat whose removal repeatedly has been sought by Iraq. In an interview last week with the London-based Arab newspaper ‘Asharq al-Awsat’, Annan voiced regret over what he called Butler’s “seasonal” diplomacy.

In New on Monday, Annan told reporters that Butler “has a rather difficult job … We are all human. When we are under tension, we say and do things we would otherwise not do.”

The secretary-general also criticised Iraq, lashing out at “rhetoric” and accusations made by the government. “I don’t believe in megaphone diplomacy,” Annan said, urging all sides to cooperate so that the remaining work can be done.