UN approves recent UN-Iraq agreement
Iraq, International, 3/3/1998

Late last night, the UN Security Council formally approved the recently drafted UN-Iraq agreement.

The resolution did not meet the stated goals called for by Britain and the US to allow for an automatic military response to any Iraqi violations of the agreement.

Although the resolution warned of "the severest" measures if Iraq fails to comply, the President of the UN Security Council said "this resolution does not address automacity" referring to the lack of automatic right for countries to take military action against Iraq. The resolution is only about approving the memorandum of understanding reached between the UN and Iraq, the Security Council president said.

But as has become typical in these resolution conferences, everyone chose to add their own "spin" on the interpretation of the resolution.
United States Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson said any " attempt by Iraq to provide less than immediate,unrestricted, unconditional access to any site will, as this resolution states, result in the severest consequences for Iraq." Richardson added that "Unless Iraq demonstrates that it is ready to rejoin the international community and abide by the rules of civilized behavior, it can expect nothing but certain punishment and continued isolation."

China's Ambassador to the U.N. Qin Huasun said "I wish to stress here that the passing of this resolution in no way means that the Security Council automatically authorizes any state to use force against Iraq."

The British ambassador to the UN, John Weston, said that this resolution provides for a "light at the end of the tunnel" referring to the sanctions. Weston repeated a warning for Iraq to comply, saying that the resolution allow for severe reprisal, yet, the British ambassador acknowledged the other part of the resolution that calls for the U.N. Security Council to remain "actively seized," that is, actively involved in this matter, as the President of the Security Council said regarding the lack of automatic military action allowance, and the need for further Security Council efforts that would be required in this regard.

Russia's Ambassador to the U.N., Sergey Lavrov, said "any hint has been excluded about automaticity with regard to the application of force,which would be unacceptable for the majority of the Council." If the memorandum was violated -- and it was hoped that it would not be -- the Council would discuss what action to take. "No one can ignore the resolution adopted today and attempt to act by bypassing the Security Council," he added.

This last view was shared by almost all the other 18 Security Council members who approved the resolution unanimously.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan was praised for his efforts and success in the use of diplomacy to avert a military conflict.

Previous Stories:
  Iraqi opposition expects renewal of crisis   (2/28/1998)
  Iraq resumes celebrating victory   (2/28/1998)
  Hariri meetings   (2/27/1998)

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