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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: D. Long who wrote (12977)	6/27/1999 9:45:00 AM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17770

Annan Says UNSCOM Spying Charges Credible 06:25 a.m. Jun 27, 1999 Eastern LONDON (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Sunday there was some evidence that weapons inspectors in Iraq were involved in spying for Washington. ''I think there was a measure of justification in those allegations and Washington never denied it,'' Annan told BBC television. ''That...was worrisome because it not only undermined UNSCOM but it could undermine future disarmament regimes,'' he said. ''The suspicion will always be there: 'Are they coming to disarm or are they coming to spy','' he said. Earlier this year, Scott Ritter, a former U.N. inspector, accused Washington of using the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM), in charge of Iraqi disarmament, to obtain information on how Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could be removed rather than where he might have hidden weapons of mass destruction. In January, The Washington Post said Annan had convincing evidence that UNSCOM inspectors helped collect intelligence used in U.S. efforts to undermine Saddam. And the Boston Globe said U.S. agents eavesdropped on secret communications between elite military units responsible for Saddam's security. UNSCOM has not been in Iraq since U.S.-British bombing raids in December. Annan said the U.N. Security Council was urgently discussing Iraq and might be able to reach agreement on a plan to put to Baghdad. Plans had been floated by the Russians, British, French and Dutch, he said. ''It is my hope that the council will find common ground and come up with a proposal that we can put to the Iraqi leadership,'' he said. ''We can do very little without their cooperation.'' Since the December raids by the United States and Britain, the 15-nation Security Council has been deadlocked on how to resume political and disarmament ties with Baghdad. Britain and the Netherlands, trying to break the deadlock, have proposed a resolution that would suspend Gulf War sanctions against Iraqi exports, such as oil, if Baghdad answered outstanding questions about its weapons potential. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.