Russia Today - 11/11/98
MOSCOW, Nov. 11, 1998 -- (Reuters) Use of force to make Iraq comply with U.N. demands would worsen the crisis and nullify
years of work by U.N. arms inspectors, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Wednesday.
Ivanov was speaking as chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler ordered all his foreign staff out of Iraq in case of U.S. military
action after Baghdad ended cooperation with teams seeking to scrap the country's weapons of mass destruction.
"Russia considers that use of force will not provide a way out of this situation, will not permit a solution to this problem," Ivanov said
at a joint news conference with visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy.
"It can only cancel out all the huge amount of work which was carried out over seven years, and complicate the situation in the
region and around the region," he said.
Russia was continuing to work with Iraq, regional states and other powers, as well as with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to
find a diplomatic solution, Ivanov said.
But the Russian minister reaffirmed earlier statements that it was up to Baghdad to resolve the crisis by resuming full cooperation
with the U.N. inspection commission, UNSCOM, so the United Nations can consider whether to lift sanctions on Iraq.
The United States said on Tuesday that "time is running out" for Iraq to comply with U.N. arms inspections, but Baghdad insisted
lifting trade sanctions imposed by the United Nations in 1990 was the key to ending the standoff.
U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said President Bill Clinton was still considering diplomatic and military options in the crisis.
Russia, which has long-standing ties with Iraq and is reluctant to see Washington flex its military muscle around the world, has
opposed use of force throughout the years of periodic crises with Baghdad.
This time, however, Moscow has expressed clear exasperation with Iraq for provoking the latest standoff, and has refrained from
direct criticism of the U.S. approach. ( (c) 1998 Reuters) |
