Global Policy Forum

By Edith Lederer

Iraq has asked the United Nations whether American actions toward Saddam Hussein violate international law, according to documents obtained Wednesday. Secretary-General Kofi Annan passed this and 18 other questions posed by Iraq to the U.N. Security Council, asking for "any response" it might want to provide by April 10.

The questions were given to Annan by Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri during talks earlier this month focusing on the return of weapons inspectors. A second round of U.N.-Iraq talks is expected to be held around April 18, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday. Annan said the initial meeting with Sabri had been "a good start." But it produced no sign Iraq would allow weapons inspectors to return - the first step toward lifting 11-year-old U.N. sanctions and a key demand of the United States and other council members.

Inspectors left Baghdad before the United States and Britain carried out air strikes in December 1998 to punish Iraq for not cooperating with the inspection program. Saddam Hussein's government has barred them from returning. President Bush has warned Saddam that he faces unspecified consequences if he fails to heed American demands that inspectors be allowed into Iraq to verify whether it has dismantled its weapons of mass destruction.

While some questions were technical and deserved answers, a U.S. official said "the other issues raised by the Iraqis were conditions, not questions." "This is just an attempt by the Iraqis to open up a dialogue with the Security Council ... which we're not willing to get engaged in. There's no need for dialogue. The Iraqis know exactly what they need to do," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's just another example of Iraqi polemics." Sabri also asked how Iraq's relationship with the Security Council could be normalized "under the present declared U.S. policy," which he claimed was aimed at overthrowing Saddam. And he asked if this violated international law.

Sabri's questions did not rule out allowing the return of weapons inspectors but indicated that Iraq wants inspections to be conducted for a limited time period and lead to certification that the country is free of weapons of mass destruction - the key condition for sanctions to be lifted. Western officials, however, reject any conditions set by Iraq and demand unfettered access to suspected weapons sites.

The questions deal with the time needed to complete weapons inspections and to certify that Iraq's banned weapons programs have been eliminated, the nature of the inspections, and the composition of inspection teams. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council that if Iraq gave a green light for inspectors to return, and actively cooperated with them, he could recommend suspending sanctions in one year.

Iraq has accused some U.S. and British inspectors in the former U.N. inspection agency of spying for the West. Sabri asked whether the United Nations can guarantee that the new inspectors "are not spies and will not conduct spying tasks," and how U.S. and British inspectors could be neutral. Blix has said he will fire anyone found to be working for a government. He also said Iraq should not have a veto over the composition of inspection teams.

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