ACCESSION



ACCESSION NUMBER:235758

FILE ID:TX-101

DATE:07/20/92

TITLE:IRAQ CONTINUES VIOLATIONS (07/20/92)

TEXT:*92072001.TXT

IRAQ CONTINUES VIOLATIONS



(VOA Editorial)  (430)

(Following is an editorial, broadcast by the Voice of America July 20,

reflecting the views of the U.S. government.)



Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein continues to violate the agreements that

ended last year's Persian Gulf war.  The Iraqi regime is repressing

civilians in Iraq's southern region in violation of U.N. Security Council

Resolution 688, which prohibits repression of the Iraqi population anywhere

in Iraq.  The Iraqi regime has stepped up its harassment of U.N. personnel

in Iraq.  It has refused to implement U.N. resolutions 706 and 712, which

would ensure that the proceeds of limited Iraqi oil sales would be used for

legitimate purposes, including the purchase of food and medicine for the

Iraqi people.  And Iraq is currently preventing a U.N. inspection team from

fulfilling its mandate to search for and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass

destruction and to eliminate Iraq's ability to produce such weapons in the

future.



This is not the first time Iraq has attempted to obstruct the work of the

United Nations.  After the first incidents in April 1991, the U.N. Security

Council passed Resolution 707, which requires Iraq to fulfill without delay

all obligations it incurred under the cease-fire agreement.  Resolution 707

says that U.N. inspection teams must have "immediate, unconditional and

unrestricted access to any and all areas, facilities, equipment, records

and means of transportation which they wish to inspect."  Last September,

another U.N. inspection team was caught in a standoff in Baghdad after

seizing secret papers related to Iraq's nuclear industry.



Since July 5, Iraq has refused to let members of the U.N. Special Commission

inspection teams enter the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation building

in Baghdad.  The building is believed to contain information related to

Iraqi missile systems and the foreign suppliers of Iraq's missile program.

On July 6, the president of the U.N. Security Council said that Iraq's

denial of access is "a material and unacceptable breach of the provisions

of U.N. Resolution 687, which established the cease-fire and provided the

conditions essential to the restoration of peace and security in the

region."



The United States has emphasized that Iraqi authorities must allow the U.N.

inspections to proceed without delay.  The United States holds Iraq

responsible for the safety of all U.N. inspectors.  By continuing its

violations, the Iraqi government is putting at risk the cease-fire that

ended Operation Desert Storm.



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