Iraq Official: U.N. Failed us and Should Help Now
Dec 16, 12:45 PM (ET)
By Evelyn Leopold
news.myway.com|top|12-16-2003::12:50|reuters.html
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iraq's foreign minister accused the United Nations on Tuesday of failing his country by leaving Saddam Hussein in power for decades and appealed to the world body to assume a leading role in Baghdad immediately.
In an address to the U.N. Security Council, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari noted that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was opening offices in Cyprus and Jordan for international staff, who would commute to Baghdad.
"Your help and expertise cannot be effectively delivered from Cyprus or Amman," Zebari said. Annan pulled out foreign staff in reaction to the Aug. 19 bombing of U.N. offices in Baghdad that cost 22 lives.
Zebari said the United Nations had failed to help rescue Iraq from "a murderous tyranny" that lasted more than 35 years and "today we are unearthing thousands of victims in horrifying testament to that failure."
"The United Nations must not fail the Iraqi people again," Zebari said.
He called the United Nations "the key forum of collective international action to help us achieve our goals of restructuring and democratizing our country."
Zebari accused the 15-member Security Council of being divided "between those who wanted to appease Saddam Hussein and those who wanted to hold him accountable" and said they should overcome the deep divisions over the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Zebari came to the United Nations to present a timetable that the U.S.-selected Iraqi Governing Council devised for a handover of power to a provisional government in June and a constitution and general elections by the end of 2005.
The United States hopes for council support for plans for Iraqi self-rule but does not foresee a new resolution in the near future, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said.
Zebari called Saturday's capture of Saddam a "historical day for Iraq."
"We Iraqis have waited so long for our nightmares to be over," he said. "But while the celebrations continue, we must persevere in efforts to empower our people to take charge of their own destiny."
Zebari spoke shortly after Annan said he still did not know when Iraq would be secure enough to send back international staff and that he had to weigh whether the risk was worth the role the United Nations would be asked to play.
"I need to weigh the degree of risk that the United Nations is being asked to accept against the substance of the role we are being asked to fulfill," Annan said. "I therefore need to know how responsibilities will be allocated and who will be taking what decisions."
But Zebari said Iraqis were "ready and willing to help provide whatever security is required."
Jeremy Greenstock, the senior British envoy in Iraq who visited Annan on Monday, said he did not expect a U.N. political presence in Iraq until the summer when the transition to Iraqi self-rule begins. He also said Annan would wait until at least the spring to replace Vieira de Mello.
Appealing for unity in the council, Zebari said "settling scores with the United States should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people."
Annan said Saddam's downfall was "an opportunity for a new beginning in the vital task of helping Iraqis to take control of their destiny -- of helping them to create a secure, stable and independent Iraq." |
