FAS | News | Iraq | 1998 | Nov |||| Index | Search |

14 November 1998

• U-N - IRAQ / SATURDAY Voice of America 14 November 1998 - IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL, U-N SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN SAID HE ACCEPTS THE IRAQI LETTER AS AN UNCONDITIONAL AGREEMENT. FRANCE AND RUSSIA HAVE TAKEN A SIMILAR STAND.
• CLINTON / IRAQ Voice of America 14 November 1998 - CLINTON CANCELLED HIS SCHEDULED TRIP TO MALAYSIA FOR AN ASIAN ECONOMIC SUMMIT TO DEAL WITH THE CRISIS WITH IRAQ. CLINTON HOPES TO MAKE HIS SCHEDULED VISITS TO JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND GUAM LATER IN THE WEEK.
• PRESS BRIEFING BY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAMUEL BERGER November 14, 1998 --
  MR. BERGER: We have said from the beginning that what we expect to see is a clear statement -- a public clear statement from Saddam Hussein that he intended to cooperate with UNSCOM and to comply with the Security Council resolutions. Instead, we have a letter, and particularly an annex, filled with conditions which are unacceptable to us.... We were poised to take military action and we remain poised to take military action.
  Q The Joint Chiefs, we understand, would prefer to wait until all the military assets which have been ordered deployed would be in place, which could take 10 days to two weeks. Are you going to wait that long?
  MR. BERGER: Well, we have tried since the beginning of this crisis to provide the President with a range of military options and diplomatic options. I believe that the President, if he decides to act, has a great deal of latitude with respect to when and how he does that.
• Text of the letter from H.E. Mr. Tariq Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq to H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on November 14, 1998 The Leadership of Iraq decided to resume working with the Special Commission and the IAEA and to allow them to perform their normal duties in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and on the basis of the principles which were agreed upon in the Memorandum of Understanding signed with you on 23 February 1998.
• Text of the Iraqi letter to the Security Council on November 14, 1998 The letter dated 14 November 1998 from Mr. Tariq Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, addressed to the Secretary-General, included an annex containing the views and preferences of the Iraqi Government with regard to the substance of the comprehensive review. These views are not linked to the clear and unconditional decision of the Iraqi Government to resume cooperation with the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
• U-S RESPONSE TO IRAQ Voice of America 14 November 1998 - U-S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER SANDY BERGER SAYS AN IRAQI LETTER OFFERING RESUMPTION OF U-N INSPECTIONS IS UNACCEPTABLE. BERGER SAID TOO MANY CONDITIONS ARE INVOLVED.
• Iraq Does Not Back Down: Aziz Letter, Iraq TV, Iraq News 14 Nov 1998 - " ... the Iraqi leadership has decided to resume cooperation with the UN Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency and to allow them to carry out their ordinary tasks ... Iraq has demonstrated its readiness to enter the comprehensive review proposed by the secretary general; however, the results yielded by the deliberations of the Council, under US pressure, do not guarantee a fair and objective review ... Should the UNSC decide, based on an objective examination that something needs to be done, a short period of time will be specified to do that. "
• PENTAGON-IRAQ SATURDAY Voice of America 14 November 1998 - THE PRESIDENT'S PRINCIPAL MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ADVISORS ARE GATHERED AT THE WHITE HOUSE TO EXAMINE THE OFFER FROM BAGHDAD.
• RUSSIA-IRAQ Voice of America 14 November 1998 - RUSSIA HAS HAILED THE IRAQI CLIMBDOWN OVER U-N WEAPONS INSPECTIONS AS A VICTORY FOR DIPLOMACY. RUSSIA'S DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER VIKTOR POSUVALYUK DESCRIBES IRAQ'S AGREEMENT TO RESUME COOPERATION WITH U-N WEAPONS INSPECTORS AS AN IMPORTANT STEP THAT ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR MILITARY FORCE.
• IRAQ CRISIS 2ND UPDATE Voice of America 14 November 1998 - THE U-N SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE IN BAGHDAD SAYS SADDAM HUSSEIN HAS AGREED TO LET U-N INSPECTIONS RESUME WITHOUT CONDITION. U-N SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN HAS SAID HE IS SATISFIED WITH THE LETTER FROM IRAQ'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, BUT THE FINAL ACCEPTANCE IS UP THE U-N SECURITY COUNCIL.
• IRAQ CRISIS UPDATE Voice of America 14 November 1998 - U-N SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN SAYS IRAQ APPEARS TO BE TAKING A POSITIVE STEP TOWARDS EASING THE LATEST CRISIS INVOLVING U-N WEAPONS INSPECTORS IN THAT COUNTRY. BUT IT REMAINS UNCLEAR IF IRAQ'S LATEST MOVE IS ENOUGH TO AVOID A MILITARY CONFRONTATION OVER THE ISSUE.
• IRAQ CRISIS: How Britain & US helped provoke the crisis Milan Rai - Voices in the Wilderness UK 14 November 1998 - Clinton and Blair helped to provoke the crisis by rebuffing efforts to negotiate an end to the inspection crisis. The critical intervention was their insistence on 30 October that the Security Council should *not* re-affirm to Iraq that the oil embargo would definitely be lifted once disarmament had been verified.
• IRAQ CRISIS Voice of America 14 November 1998 - SO FAR ARAB REACTION TO THE LATEST IRAQI CRISIS HAS BEEN MUTED. BUT, AS THE THREAT OF A STRIKE INTENSIFIES, FOREIGN MINISTERS FROM THE GULF ARE MEETING AGAIN TO DISCUSS THE CRISIS.

FAS | News | Iraq | 1998 | Nov |||| Index | Search |