Inspectors Set to Return to Iraq
By William J. Kole
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, October 24, 2002; 7:43 AM
URL: washingtonpost.com
VIENNA, Austria –– U.N. weapons inspectors are prepared to return to Iraq within 10 days if the Security Council approves a new resolution toughening the inspection regime, the nuclear monitoring agency said Thursday.
Nuclear inspectors with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, have been gearing up for their first return to Baghdad since they left nearly four years ago.
"We could be back in a week to 10 days" after the Security Council approves a resolution, IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
"For logistics reasons, we need a little bit of time to arrange the flight and get people organized," she said.
The Security Council on Wednesday was handed a U.S. proposal, drafted with British support, that would give the inspectors broad new powers to seek out and destroy material for weapons of mass destruction. The resolution would warn Iraq of "serious consequences" if it obstructs their work.
A vote on the new resolution could come early next week, and if it is approved, the inspectors could deploy to Baghdad sometime around Nov. 8. No specific date has been set for their return.
Still, the United States and Britain have been at odds with France, Russia and China over how tough a new resolution should be and approval is by no means certain.
Cyprus said Wednesday that it had agreed on the establishment of an office there that will be used as a base for the Iraq inspectors.
The IAEA declined to say whether the new resolution will help or hurt its mission to provide a fresh assessment of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program.
"We're just watching with interest the developments on the resolution," Fleming said.
The inspectors worked out details with the Iraqis on their eventual return in meetings earlier this month. No further consultations with the Iraqis are planned before the teams return, Fleming said.
The inspectors pulled out of Iraq in December 1998 on the eve of U.S.-British airstrikes, amid allegations that Baghdad was not cooperating with the teams.
By the end of the 1991 Gulf War, inspectors discovered the oil-rich nation had imported thousands of pounds of uranium, some of which was already refined for weapons use, and had considered two types of nuclear delivery systems.
Inspectors seized the uranium, destroyed facilities and chemicals, dismantled over 40 missiles and confiscated thousands of documents.
© 2002 The Associated Press |
