- UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)
- The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a tough U.S.-initiated
resolution on Friday giving Iraq one last chance to disarm or face the
consequences and told President Saddam Hussein to accept its terms within
a week.
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- Even Iraq's Arab neighbor Syria, which had opposed the
resolution, joined the other U.N. Security Council members for the 15-0
vote, a victory for President Bush, who had challenged the United Nations
to disarm Iraq.
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- "The world has now come together to say that the
outlaw regime in Iraq will not be permitted to build or possess chemical,
biological or nuclear weapons," Bush said in Washington immediately
after the vote.
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- In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose country co-sponsored
the resolution, said "Saddam must now make his choice. My message
to him is this. Disarm or you face force. Be under no doubt whatsoever
of that."
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- Chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix said he would be taking
a crew to Iraq on Nov. 18 and U.N. officials said the first team would
set up logistics for the arms experts. Actual spot inspections are not
expected to begin until after Nov. 25.
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- The complex resolution, co-sponsored by Britain, leaves
the United States free to attack Iraq without Security Council authorization.
But this is to happen only after the inspectors, accounting for Baghdad's
weapons of mass destruction, have reported or verified any serious violation
by Iraq and the Security Council has evaluated the complaint.
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- The U.N. inspectors have up to 45 days to begin work
and another 60 days to report to the council on what they have uncovered.
But they are obliged to report any obstructions by Iraq immediately.
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- However, several Security Council members expressed anxiety
that the Bush administration, which has begun massing forces around the
Gulf, might move unilaterally without waiting for any report from inspectors.
"War can be only a last resort," stressed French Ambassador Jean-David
Levitte.
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- Blix, an international lawyer, has made clear he would
not report minor infractions, a position that may conflict with U.S. military
plans.
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- INSPECTORS CAN SEARCH ANYWHERE
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- The resolution gives the U.N. arms inspectors, who have
been out of Iraq for four years, "immediate, unimpeded and unconditional"
rights to search anywhere for banned weapons, including President Saddam
Hussein's presidential compounds.
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- It directs Iraq to accept the terms of the resolution
in seven days, and within 30 days make an "accurate full and complete"
declaration of its nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic weapons
and related materials used in civilian industries.
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- And the document threatens Iraq with "serious consequences"
if it does not take advantage of "a final opportunity" to cooperate
and disarm.
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- Iraq denies it has such weapons programs. Baghdad's Iraq's
U.N. ambassador, Mohamed Aldouri, said he did not know his government's
response to the seven-day deadline.
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- He told Reuters the resolution reflected "the will
of the United States on the rest of the world" and said he was "pessimistic"
the inspectors would ever be allowed to do their work.
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- Syria said it supported the resolution to preserve unity
in the Security Council despite having doubts.
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- Syria's Deputy Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad said that France
and Russia in "high-level contacts" had persuaded Damascus to
vote "yes" following assurances the resolution would not be used
as a pretext to strike Iraq.
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- Bush welcomed the vote, which came after two months of
arduous negotiations following his Sept. 12 speech to the U.N. General
Assembly. He challenged the world to force Iraq to disarm or the United
States would do it alone.
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- On Friday, Bush said the Security Council "had given
clear and fair notice that Saddam Hussein must fully disclose and destroy
its weapons of mass destruction."
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- And his U.N. ambassador John Negroponte warned that "if
the Security Council fails to act decisively in the event of a further
Iraq violation, this resolution does not constrain any member state from
acting to defend itself."
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- British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock was more conciliatory
and stressed there was no automatic trigger for military action.
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- "If there is a further Iraq breach of its disarmament
obligations, the matter will return to the council for discussion. We would
expect the Security Council then to meet its responsibilities," he
said.
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- GROUNDS FOR MILITARY ATTACK
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- The key paragraph 4 in the resolution states that "false
statements or omissions" and other noncooperation by Iraq constitute
a "further material breach" of Baghdad's obligations -- wording
that would allow a military attack.
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- A dispute over who would evaluate a material breach almost
derailed the resolution until a last-minute deal between the United States
and France.
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- While Negroponte told reporters any nation could report
an Iraqi violation to the council, Greenstock stressed that the arms inspectors
would have to verify any material breach of Iraq's obligations before any
military strike could begin.
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- Russia's U.N. ambassador Sergei Lavrov said, "It
is particularly important that, as many of my colleagues have said today,
in the event of any kind of dispute or disagreement on disarmament matters,
the (inspectors) will report this to the Security Council, and it is the
Security Council that will consider the situation that has developed."
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- Mexico's U.N. ambassador Adolfo Zinser told the council,
"We reiterate our belief, that is reflected in the agreed text, that
the possibility of the use of force is only valid as a last resort."
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- Most members followed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's
lead and warned Iraq to comply.
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- "I urge the Iraqi leadership for the sake of its
own people and for the sake of world security and world order to seize
this opportunity and thereby begin to end the isolation and suffering of
the Iraqi people," Annan told the council.
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