- UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council Thursday maintained sweeping
trade sanctions against Iraq and told Baghdad its continued refusal to
work with U.N. arms inspectors was ``totally unacceptable.'' But the council,
at a closed-door session, decided to postpone any resolution or other action
against Iraq until it hears a report next week from Indian diplomat Prakash
Shah, the special envoy for Secretary-General Kofi Annan who just visited
Baghdad in an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the stand-off. Instead, members
authorized Council President Danilo Turk of Slovenia to say that ``the
decision by Iraq to suspend cooperation with the U.N. Special Commission
and the International Atomic Energy Agency is totally unacceptable.'' ``They
view with extreme concern the continuing refusal by the Government of Iraq
to rescind its decision,'' Turk said. As expected, the council for the
40th time made no move to ease or lift punishing sanctions against Iraq,
imposed in August 1990 shortly after Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait. The
embargoes can be eased only when the council is satisfied that Baghdad's
weapons of mass destruction have all been accounted for and cannot be rebuilt.
``The sanctions review showed that the necessary conditions do not exist
for the modification of the regime.'' Turk said. The 15-member council
is at odds with Baghdad over its Aug. 5 decision not to cooperate with
the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of disarming Iraq until
the commission is restructured to eliminate alleged American influence.
Iraq claims all its nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic missile
systems were eliminated long ago and that sanctions, including a ban on
normal Iraqi oil sales, should have been lifted. It accuses the UNSCOM
of bowing to U.S. wishes by prolonging the disarmament process, ensuring
that sanctions continue indefinitely. U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson said
the decision to continue sanctions was ``virtually unanimous'' and that
``Iraq's actions have backfired.'' ``They are in a box. They can't get
out of it and they are digging themselves further into a box that may not
be able to be opened,'' he said. Diplomats said, however, that Richardson
failed to get unanimous support in the council for a reference to a previous
resolution that threatened Iraq with ``severest consequences'' if it did
not honor its commitment to Annan in February to allow unfettered access
by U.N. inspectors. The United States, which has not threatened military
action at this point, wants Annan to take the lead in resolving the dispute,
which violated an agreement he himself negotiated with Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein in February. But diplomats contend the secretary-general
may be reluctant to take a leading role without a unified Security Council
behind him or threats to back up his diplomacy. ``The next step is the
secretary-general,'' Richardson said.. ``We want to see his active diplomacy
and skills used in this issue and we believe very strongly that what is
most important here is council unity and that has happened here today.''
Earlier Thursday, Iraq turned down a fresh appeal by UNSCOM chairman Richard
Butler to resume cooperation with his inspectors, who have been unable
to carry out their mandates for the last 10 days. ``We do not trust Butler
and those who are controlling the Special Commission and we think that
it is futile to work with them,'' Iraq's deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz
told the Iraqi news agency. But China's representative, supporting some
of Iraq's complaints, told reporters the Security Council should exercise
greater control over U.N. arms inspectors in an effort to resolve the standoff.
``There is a lack of trust between UNSCOM and Iraq. The Council should
exercise greater control of UNSCOM,'' said Shen Guofang, the deputy Chinese
ambassador. He said the council should speak to Iraqi officials directly,
conduct a comprehensive review of its policy toward Iraq and ``reflect
on the root causes of such difficulties.'' He also said the council should
acknowledge areas in which Iraq had made progress, particularly in nuclear
facilities destruction in order to provide Baghdad with hope that sanctions
could eventually be lifted.
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