Saddam expels US inspectors
Iraq, Politics, 10/30/1997

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein decided yesterday to expel US inspectors in the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of disarming Iraq, giving them a week to leave the country, according to the official news agency INA. The ten US members of the commission posted in Iraq have until November 5 to leave, INA said.

Iraq's UN ambassador in New York Nizar Hamdoon was reported to have handed a letter to the Security Council barring US inspectors from the country. He said that this decision by the Iraqi government came out of desperation over the international sanctions against Iraq and the tragic situation of the Iraqi people who have been suffering for 7 years now under the sanctions. The ambassador said that Iraq would accept any other nationals to replace the US inspectors.

Both the United States and France condemned the expulsions immediately and UNSCOM's chairman Richard Butler announced that following the Iraqi decision he was freezing the group's work temporarily in Iraq.

A US State Department spokesman described Baghdad's decision as "unacceptable," saying Washington was currently discussing the move with its allies. He stated that this new Iraqi challenge to the UN Security Council will have :grave consequences.:

The French Foreign Ministry released a statement urging Iraq to rethink the decision.

The Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) chaired by Saddam decided that Baghdad would "no longer deal with American nationals within UNSCOM," INA said. The RCC also called on UNSCOM to stop overflights of Iraq by a U2 spy plane of the United States and to replace it with a plane from another country.

But Iraq did not mean to disrupt cooperation with UNSCOM as long as this cooperation remained "within a framework of respect for the sovereignty, national security and dignity of Iraq," the RCC said in its statement quoted by INA.

Previous Stories:
  Iraqis discuss UN travel ban threat   (10/29/1997)
  Iraqi parliament recommends freeze in contacts   (10/27/1997)
  Medical supplies to Iraq   (10/16/1997)

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