23 September 1999


 
U.S. Will Not Compromise on Iraqi Weapons Inspections, Albright Says
 
(Secretary wants Security Council resolution but "not at any price")
(770)
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

New York -- The United States is eager to have a new Security Council
resolution that will put weapons inspectors back in Iraq but "not at
any price," U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said September
22.

Albright, who is in New York to attend the opening session of the 54th
U.N. General Assembly, said that negotiations have intensified in the
past week as senior officials from the five permanent members and 10
non-permanent members of the Security Council converged in New York
for the assembly.

The foreign ministers of China, France, Great Britain, Russia and
Albright are scheduled to lunch with Secretary General Kofi Annan
September 23 and they plan to discuss the draft resolution then.

Nevertheless, U.S. hopes have faded that differences between the
British/Dutch draft supported by 11 members of the council and Russia
and China could be reconciled before the foreign ministers leave town.
Albright also had reservations about the possibility of a Security
Council statement of principles on Iraq being issued as an interim
measure after the ministers' lunch.

"You can't try to accomplish in a statement what you can't (get) in a
resolution," the secretary pointed out. "We've made pretty clear ...
the American position and it's very hard to separate positions in a
statement."

"I haven't given up (on a resolution) nor are we going to do a
resolution at any price," Albright said.

Denouncing the negotiations, Iraq has said that it will not allow arms
inspectors back into the country and wants sanctions lifted
immediately.

The most controversial parts of the new resolution deal with the
creation of an organization to replace the U.N. Special Commission
overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM) which was set up
under the council's cease-fire resolution 687 at the end of the Gulf
war in 1991 and the mandatory economic sanctions that have been in
place since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and are linked to the weapons
destruction.

Restoring the consensus that broke down in the Security Council ten
months ago is a very important aspect of the negotiations, Albright
told journalists September 22.

The weapons inspectors were able to ferret out and destroy many of
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction for so many years "because there
was consensus in the Security Council," Albright said.

"One of the goals of this resolution is to try to regain that
consensus because that sends a stronger message, obviously, to Saddam
Hussein," the secretary said. "But it is not consensus at any price."

"We really believe that the Iraqis have to comply with the disarmament
tasks. That is essential. How that is worded and the timing" is the
bulk of the negotiations, she noted.

"We feel very strongly about making sure that disarmament moves
forward and obviously we would like to see monitors on the ground, but
they have to have the ability to work effectively," Albright said.

"The point here is it is important to get this right," she said. 

"We believe there has to be compliance and it's important for the
monitors to get back and for us to be able to deal with the
humanitarian situation in Iraq," Albright said.

Iraq began severely interfering with U.N. weapons inspections in
August 1998, finally forcing U.N. inspectors to withdraw completely in
December 1998 precipitating U.S. and British bombing. UNSCOM has not
been allowed back into Iraq since and weapons experts fear that Iraq
has taken the opportunity presented by the lack of arms inspections to
resume research and production of the banned weapons.

U.S. officials say Iraq's history of developing and using weapons of
mass destruction, especially chemical and biological weapons, is such
that Washington wants a very intrusive inspection system on the
ground.

The draft resolution also deals with important questions regarding the
humanitarian program for Iraq also known as the "oil-for-food
program," the outstanding issue of 600 Kuwaiti POWs who have never
been accounted for and substantial missing property claims.

The current oil-for-food program allows Iraq to sell $5,200 million
worth of oil under strict U.N. supervision with the proceeds going to
buy humanitarian supplies for Iraqi civilians, provide funds for a
U.N. administered program for the northern Kurdish provinces, pay
compensation claims and help finance the weapons inspections. With the
current high price of oil, the U.N. estimates that by the middle of
October, Iraq will hit the $5,200 million cap allowed for oil exports
every six months.