UN demands that Baghdad 'change'
Brian Knowlton/IHT International Herald Tribune Friday, February 7, 2003
iht.com
WASHINGTON A top UN weapons inspector exhorted Iraq on Thursday to "show drastic change" in cooperation and disarmament or be prepared for grave problems. But several important countries continued to hold out for further UN inspections, and not war.
.
The call for "drastic change" by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came as the focus shifted to a new date for a decision on Iraqi compliance with United Nations demands for disarmament.
.
France urged a deadline of Feb. 14 for Iraq to provide urgently sought answers to arms monitors, and declined to rule out military force.
.
Russia indicated Thursday that its support for continued inspections had not been budged by Secretary of State Colin Powell's powerfully worded presentation to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, and French officials said they agreed. China expressed a similar view. All three countries have veto power in the Security Council. Iraq said that it would send the UN a detailed letter refuting U.S. allegations that Baghdad had actively moved to displace and conceal banned weapons of mass destruction. Other developments increased the sense that war might be just weeks away. The Turkish Parliament voted to allow U.S. renovation of military bases for a possible invasion of northern Iraq; the NATO secretary-general predicted a favorable response to U.S. requests for Iraq-related assistance; and Britain said it would increase its air force in the Gulf to about 100 aircraft, a level similar to that deployed in the 1991 war there. Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said that diplomatic efforts would continue. But Powell, whom many critics of a possible war had looked on to defend that position within the Bush administration, indicated Thursday that he saw dwindling prospects for diplomacy.
.
"I don't like war," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Nobody likes war. The president doesn't like war, doesn't want a war. But this is a problem we cannot walk away from." Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Jacques Chirac of France agreed during a telephone call Thursday that the Iraqi crisis should be solved without force, Agence France-Presse reported from Moscow.
.
The "positions of Russia and France correspond, and stand in favor of solving the Iraqi problem through political-diplomatic means," the Kremlin said. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Powell's evidence against Iraq had placed the burden squarely on Baghdad, but he insisted that inspections should continue and added that "one or several" more UN resolutions might be required before the Security Council would authorize force. He again left open a door, nonetheless, for Russia to change its stance. No final decision should be made, he said, until all the freshly offered U.S. intelligence had been thoroughly analyzed. In another sign of shifting mentalities, reporters at a regular White House briefing raised several questions about how a postwar Iraq would be administered. Tellingly, the spokesman, Ari Fleischer, answered rather than deflecting them as premature.
.
If there were a war, he said, humanitarian relief to Iraq would be a U.S. priority.
.
"The plan is for a government to emerge both from inside and outside Iraq," Fleischer said, apparently alluding to exile groups, and administration would be handled by "a number of agencies, including international." All this would happen under an umbrella of U.S. military protection. With events gaining pace, ElBaradei and the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, met in London with Prime Minister Tony Blair, then headed for a weekend of meetings in Baghdad that they called crucial. Both inspectors said that Iraq must dramatically improve cooperation if it was to avert a war.
.
"The message coming from the Security Council is very clear: that Iraq is not cooperating fully, that they need to show drastic change in terms of cooperation," ElBaradei said. If Baghdad's response is not dramatically positive, "then our report next Friday will not be what we would like it to be." "Time is very critical," ElBaradei said. "We need to show progress" in the report to the Security Council due on Feb. 14. Blair has suggested that this date could be a deadline for deciding on war. Belgium called Thursday for an emergency meeting of the European Union along with 13 of its candidate states and Iraq's neighbors to discuss the Iraq crisis after that date. The crisis has severely divided Europe, with a growing list of countries lining up in support of the United States and Britain, but two of Europe's historical powers, France and Germany, standing in opposition to war.
.
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, dismissed French calls for a bolstering of weapons inspections. What was needed, he said, was not more inspectors, but "more, much, much more cooperation from the Iraqi regime."
.
The United States and Britain have said that Iraq already is in "material breach" of UN resolutions, justifying its forcible disarmament, unless Baghdad becomes much more forthcoming.
< < Back to Start of Article WASHINGTON A top UN weapons inspector exhorted Iraq on Thursday to "show drastic change" in cooperation and disarmament or be prepared for grave problems. But several important countries continued to hold out for further UN inspections, and not war.
.
The call for "drastic change" by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came as the focus shifted to a new date for a decision on Iraqi compliance with United Nations demands for disarmament.
.
France urged a deadline of Feb. 14 for Iraq to provide urgently sought answers to arms monitors, and declined to rule out military force.
.
Russia indicated Thursday that its support for continued inspections had not been budged by Secretary of State Colin Powell's powerfully worded presentation to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, and French officials said they agreed. China expressed a similar view. All three countries have veto power in the Security Council. Iraq said that it would send the UN a detailed letter refuting U.S. allegations that Baghdad had actively moved to displace and conceal banned weapons of mass destruction. Other developments increased the sense that war might be just weeks away. The Turkish Parliament voted to allow U.S. renovation of military bases for a possible invasion of northern Iraq; the NATO secretary-general predicted a favorable response to U.S. requests for Iraq-related assistance; and Britain said it would increase its air force in the Gulf to about 100 aircraft, a level similar to that deployed in the 1991 war there. Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said that diplomatic efforts would continue. But Powell, whom many critics of a possible war had looked on to defend that position within the Bush administration, indicated Thursday that he saw dwindling prospects for diplomacy.
.
"I don't like war," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Nobody likes war. The president doesn't like war, doesn't want a war. But this is a problem we cannot walk away from." Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Jacques Chirac of France agreed during a telephone call Thursday that the Iraqi crisis should be solved without force, Agence France-Presse reported from Moscow.
.
The "positions of Russia and France correspond, and stand in favor of solving the Iraqi problem through political-diplomatic means," the Kremlin said. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Powell's evidence against Iraq had placed the burden squarely on Baghdad, but he insisted that inspections should continue and added that "one or several" more UN resolutions might be required before the Security Council would authorize force. He again left open a door, nonetheless, for Russia to change its stance. No final decision should be made, he said, until all the freshly offered U.S. intelligence had been thoroughly analyzed. In another sign of shifting mentalities, reporters at a regular White House briefing raised several questions about how a postwar Iraq would be administered. Tellingly, the spokesman, Ari Fleischer, answered rather than deflecting them as premature.
.
If there were a war, he said, humanitarian relief to Iraq would be a U.S. priority.
.
"The plan is for a government to emerge both from inside and outside Iraq," Fleischer said, apparently alluding to exile groups, and administration would be handled by "a number of agencies, including international." All this would happen under an umbrella of U.S. military protection. With events gaining pace, ElBaradei and the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, met in London with Prime Minister Tony Blair, then headed for a weekend of meetings in Baghdad that they called crucial. Both inspectors said that Iraq must dramatically improve cooperation if it was to avert a war.
.
"The message coming from the Security Council is very clear: that Iraq is not cooperating fully, that they need to show drastic change in terms of cooperation," ElBaradei said. If Baghdad's response is not dramatically positive, "then our report next Friday will not be what we would like it to be." "Time is very critical," ElBaradei said. "We need to show progress" in the report to the Security Council due on Feb. 14. Blair has suggested that this date could be a deadline for deciding on war. Belgium called Thursday for an emergency meeting of the European Union along with 13 of its candidate states and Iraq's neighbors to discuss the Iraq crisis after that date. The crisis has severely divided Europe, with a growing list of countries lining up in support of the United States and Britain, but two of Europe's historical powers, France and Germany, standing in opposition to war.
.
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, dismissed French calls for a bolstering of weapons inspections. What was needed, he said, was not more inspectors, but "more, much, much more cooperation from the Iraqi regime."
.
The United States and Britain have said that Iraq already is in "material breach" of UN resolutions, justifying its forcible disarmament, unless Baghdad becomes much more forthcoming. WASHINGTON A top UN weapons inspector exhorted Iraq on Thursday to "show drastic change" in cooperation and disarmament or be prepared for grave problems. But several important countries continued to hold out for further UN inspections, and not war.
.
The call for "drastic change" by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came as the focus shifted to a new date for a decision on Iraqi compliance with United Nations demands for disarmament.
.
France urged a deadline of Feb. 14 for Iraq to provide urgently sought answers to arms monitors, and declined to rule out military force.
.
Russia indicated Thursday that its support for continued inspections had not been budged by Secretary of State Colin Powell's powerfully worded presentation to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, and French officials said they agreed. China expressed a similar view. All three countries have veto power in the Security Council. Iraq said that it would send the UN a detailed letter refuting U.S. allegations that Baghdad had actively moved to displace and conceal banned weapons of mass destruction. Other developments increased the sense that war might be just weeks away. The Turkish Parliament voted to allow U.S. renovation of military bases for a possible invasion of northern Iraq; the NATO secretary-general predicted a favorable response to U.S. requests for Iraq-related assistance; and Britain said it would increase its air force in the Gulf to about 100 aircraft, a level similar to that deployed in the 1991 war there. Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said that diplomatic efforts would continue. But Powell, whom many critics of a possible war had looked on to defend that position within the Bush administration, indicated Thursday that he saw dwindling prospects for diplomacy.
.
"I don't like war," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Nobody likes war. The president doesn't like war, doesn't want a war. But this is a problem we cannot walk away from." Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Jacques Chirac of France agreed during a telephone call Thursday that the Iraqi crisis should be solved without force, Agence France-Presse reported from Moscow.
.
The "positions of Russia and France correspond, and stand in favor of solving the Iraqi problem through political-diplomatic means," the Kremlin said. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Powell's evidence against Iraq had placed the burden squarely on Baghdad, but he insisted that inspections should continue and added that "one or several" more UN resolutions might be required before the Security Council would authorize force. He again left open a door, nonetheless, for Russia to change its stance. No final decision should be made, he said, until all the freshly offered U.S. intelligence had been thoroughly analyzed. In another sign of shifting mentalities, reporters at a regular White House briefing raised several questions about how a postwar Iraq would be administered. Tellingly, the spokesman, Ari Fleischer, answered rather than deflecting them as premature.
.
If there were a war, he said, humanitarian relief to Iraq would be a U.S. priority.
.
"The plan is for a government to emerge both from inside and outside Iraq," Fleischer said, apparently alluding to exile groups, and administration would be handled by "a number of agencies, including international." All this would happen under an umbrella of U.S. military protection. With events gaining pace, ElBaradei and the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, met in London with Prime Minister Tony Blair, then headed for a weekend of meetings in Baghdad that they called crucial. Both inspectors said that Iraq must dramatically improve cooperation if it was to avert a war.
.
"The message coming from the Security Council is very clear: that Iraq is not cooperating fully, that they need to show drastic change in terms of cooperation," ElBaradei said. If Baghdad's response is not dramatically positive, "then our report next Friday will not be what we would like it to be." "Time is very critical," ElBaradei said. "We need to show progress" in the report to the Security Council due on Feb. 14. Blair has suggested that this date could be a deadline for deciding on war. Belgium called Thursday for an emergency meeting of the European Union along with 13 of its candidate states and Iraq's neighbors to discuss the Iraq crisis after that date. The crisis has severely divided Europe, with a growing list of countries lining up in support of the United States and Britain, but two of Europe's historical powers, France and Germany, standing in opposition to war.
.
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, dismissed French calls for a bolstering of weapons inspections. What was needed, he said, was not more inspectors, but "more, much, much more cooperation from the Iraqi regime."
.
The United States and Britain have said that Iraq already is in "material breach" of UN resolutions, justifying its forcible disarmament, unless Baghdad becomes much more forthcoming. WASHINGTON A top UN weapons inspector exhorted Iraq on Thursday to "show drastic change" in cooperation and disarmament or be prepared for grave problems. But several important countries continued to hold out for further UN inspections, and not war.
.
The call for "drastic change" by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came as the focus shifted to a new date for a decision on Iraqi compliance with United Nations demands for disarmament.
.
France urged a deadline of Feb. 14 for Iraq to provide urgently sought answers to arms monitors, and declined to rule out military force.
.
Russia indicated Thursday that its support for continued inspections had not been budged by Secretary of State Colin Powell's powerfully worded presentation to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, and French officials said they agreed. China expressed a similar view. All three countries have veto power in the Security Council. Iraq said that it would send the UN a detailed letter refuting U.S. allegations that Baghdad had actively moved to displace and conceal banned weapons of mass destruction. Other developments increased the sense that war might be just weeks away. The Turkish Parliament voted to allow U.S. renovation of military bases for a possible invasion of northern Iraq; the NATO secretary-general predicted a favorable response to U.S. requests for Iraq-related assistance; and Britain said it would increase its air force in the Gulf to about 100 aircraft, a level similar to that deployed in the 1991 war there. Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said that diplomatic efforts would continue. But Powell, whom many critics of a possible war had looked on to defend that position within the Bush administration, indicated Thursday that he saw dwindling prospects for diplomacy.
.
"I don't like war," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Nobody likes war. The president doesn't like war, doesn't want a war. But this is a problem we cannot walk away from." Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Jacques Chirac of France agreed during a telephone call Thursday that the Iraqi crisis should be solved without force, Agence France-Presse reported from Moscow.
.
The "positions of Russia and France correspond, and stand in favor of solving the Iraqi problem through political-diplomatic means," the Kremlin said. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Powell's evidence against Iraq had placed the burden squarely on Baghdad, but he insisted that inspections should continue and added that "one or several" more UN resolutions might be required before the Security Council would authorize force. He again left open a door, nonetheless, for Russia to change its stance. No final decision should be made, he said, until all the freshly offered U.S. intelligence had been thoroughly analyzed. In another sign of shifting mentalities, reporters at a regular White House briefing raised several questions about how a postwar Iraq would be administered. Tellingly, the spokesman, Ari Fleischer, answered rather than deflecting them as premature.
.
If there were a war, he said, humanitarian relief to Iraq would be a U.S. priority.
.
"The plan is for a government to emerge both from inside and outside Iraq," Fleischer said, apparently alluding to exile groups, and administration would be handled by "a number of agencies, including international." All this would happen under an umbrella of U.S. military protection. With events gaining pace, ElBaradei and the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, met in London with Prime Minister Tony Blair, then headed for a weekend of meetings in Baghdad that they called crucial. Both inspectors said that Iraq must dramatically improve cooperation if it was to avert a war.
.
"The message coming from the Security Council is very clear: that Iraq is not cooperating fully, that they need to show drastic change in terms of cooperation," ElBaradei said. If Baghdad's response is not dramatically positive, "then our report next Friday will not be what we would like it to be." "Time is very critical," ElBaradei said. "We need to show progress" in the report to the Security Council due on Feb. 14. Blair has suggested that this date could be a deadline for deciding on war. Belgium called Thursday for an emergency meeting of the European Union along with 13 of its candidate states and Iraq's neighbors to discuss the Iraq crisis after that date. The crisis has severely divided Europe, with a growing list of countries lining up in support of the United States and Britain, but two of Europe's historical powers, France and Germany, standing in opposition to war.
.
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, dismissed French calls for a bolstering of weapons inspections. What was needed, he said, was not more inspectors, but "more, much, much more cooperation from the Iraqi regime."
.
The United States and Britain have said that Iraq already is in "material breach" of UN resolutions, justifying its forcible disarmament, unless Baghdad becomes much more forthcoming. |
