All UNSCOM team members back in Baghdad
Iraq, Politics, 11/19/1998

The last six members of UNSCOM team who were in Bahrain arrived in Iraq on Wednesday. Some 80 UNSCOM members and 6 experts from the International Agency for Atomic Energy arrived back in Baghdad on Tuesday.

The committee's 92 members have all returned to Baghdad since the end of the recent crisis between Iraq and the UN.

The UN inspectors carried out on Wednesday their first inspection operations since they came back on Tuesday.

The advisor at the Iraqi leadership, Lt. Gan. Amer al- Saadi, said that Iraq will spare no effort to facilitate the work of UNSCOM.

Al-Saadi told reporters, "We will be patient and try even to forget about the provocation of the inspectors." He continued, "There should not be any problem or previous problems to happen again."

He stressed that Iraq is ready to meet the request of UNSCOM in delivering a document relating to the chemical weapons found by the inspectors last July and confiscated by the Iraqis. The US had set a precondition on that Iraq has to hand over this document to UNSCOM.

Meanwhile, UNSCOM chief, Richard Butler, conceded Thursday that he should have informed the United Nations Secretary general before deciding to withdraw from Iraq in the latest UN-Iraq crisis.

In an interview with Saudi daily "Asharq Al-Awsat," based in London, Butler said "it was the Americans who advised me to withdraw inspectors for security reasons, especially that Iraq was accusing some inspectors of spying charges."

He conceded that it was a bad piece of advice and said next time, he will refer to the secretary general.

On the UNSCOM task, he said their mission has lasted too long because Iraq is hiding information.

To a question of former US inspector, Scott Ritler, who resigned from UNSCOM, Butler said his resignation has harmed the UNSCOM.

Previous Stories:
  UNSCOM inspectors continue work in Baghdad   (11/18/1998)
  Israel considers crisis with Iraq unfinished   (11/17/1998)
  UNSCOM returns to Baghdad   (11/17/1998)

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