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U.N. turns up the heat on Iraq
November 3, 1997
Web posted at: 9:16 p.m. EST (0216 GMT)UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The United Nations escalated the tension in its confrontation with Iraq on Monday by announcing that weapons inspectors would go back to work Tuesday, despite Iraq's demand that Americans be excluded from the teams.
"We will go back to work in the normal way in Iraq tomorrow," chief weapons inspector Richard Butler told reporters. "We will keep on doing it and we will do it knowing the (U.N. Security Council) completely supports that approach."
Butler said Americans would be included on the teams, and that if anyone asked about their nationalities they should say they worked for the United Nations.
Earlier Monday, Iraq refused to allow an American to take part in a U.N. inspection of a suspected missile storage site in Baghdad. The United Nations canceled that inspection and two others planned for Monday in protest.
Butler also announced that the United States would send U-2 spy planes over Iraq on Wednesday and Friday, as scheduled, despite Iraq's threat to shoot them down.
Butler spoke after the Security Council endorsed a plan by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send three envoys to Baghdad to persuade President Saddam Hussein to change his mind about ordering all American arms inspectors out of the country.
"Their mandate is to convince Iraq to cooperate and not to negotiate," Annan told reporters. He said he had written to Saddam and expected the team would see him.
Diplomats to reach Baghdad Wednesday
Annan said the three diplomats -- an Algerian, an Argentine and a Swede -- should reach Baghdad Wednesday and would report next Monday to the Security Council.
Iraq announced last week that it wanted all American members of the U.N. weapons inspection commission out of the country by Wednesday. The inspectors are there to oversee the dismantling of Iraq's long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction, as required by the terms ending the Gulf War in 1991.
Economic sanctions leveled against Iraq by the U.N. cannot be lifted until the inspectors certify that the weapons have been destroyed, and Iraq charged last week that the Americans are trying to prevent its certification.
But Butler said he believes the Iraqis still have arms stashed away and ordered the Americans out as the inspectors closed in on the hidden weapons.
Tensions were further heightened Sunday when Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Nizar Hamdoon, sent a letter to Butler demanding an end to the U-2 flights and threatening to shoot them down if they were not. The U-2s fly surveillance missions to help determine if Iraq is hiding any long-range missiles or nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Hamdoon also said that Iraqi air defense units were on alert for possible American air strikes.
'We're not negotiating'
CNN's Judy Woodruff talks to the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson.
"This is a direct threat on the United Nations," said Bill Richardson, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. "We think this is an irresponsible escalation which we view with grave concern. And, needless to say, it's another demonstration of Iraqi irresponsibility and intransigence, which we view extremely seriously."
After meeting with the Security Council on Monday evening, Annan told reporters the three-man mission to Iraq would "discuss with the Iraqi authorities the need for them to rescind the decision they have taken so that we do not create unnecessary escalation."
The council has warned Iraq of "serious consequences" if Iraq does not cancel the order and cooperate fully with inspectors.
Iraq's Hamdoon said the mission would open a "dialogue" on Iraqi accusations that the Americans are dragging their feet on lifting of U.N. sanctions, but a member of the mission says otherwise.
Emilio Cardenas, U.N. envoy to Iraq: "This is not a negotiating mission." 158K/15 sec. AIFF or WAV sound
Sir John Weston, British Ambassador to the U.N.: "You cannot challenge the authority of the international community. . ." "We're not negotiating," said Emilio Cardenas of Argentina. "We will deliver the message and listen, which is not a definition of negotiations. This is not a negotiating mission."
'Let's give diplomacy a chance'
The other members of the mission are former Algerian foreign minister Lakhdar Brahimi and Jan Eliasson, a state secretary in the Swedish foreign ministry and a former U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.
The United States contends that Iraq has consistently tried to hide banned weapons, including chemical weapons and nerve agents capable of killing hundreds of thousands of people.
"They are pushing the envelope," Richardson told CNN, referring to the Iraqis. Nevertheless, he said, "We're not seeking a confrontation... Let's give diplomacy a chance."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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- Saddam Hussein - Iraqi President
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Related sites:
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- United Nations Home Page
- International Atomic Energy Agency
- Iraq - ArabNet
- Iraq - Consular Information Sheet - U.S. State Dept.
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