Global Policy Forum

By Christopher Wren

The chief United Nations arms inspector told the Security Council earlier this month that his inspectors could conceivably accomplish their disarmament tasks in Iraq in less than a year once Baghdad gave the green light for their return, but only if Iraqis actively cooperated.

Once the inspections were carried out to his satisfaction, the chief inspector, Hans Blix, could recommend that the council suspend, though not lift, penalties that have been in place since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Continuing inspections would ensure that Baghdad was not secretly acquiring new chemical, biological and nuclear stockpiles. Mr. Blix, a Swedish diplomat who is the executive chairman of the United Nations arms inspection commission, briefed the Security Council in a closed session on March 8, a day after the first visit in more than a year by an Iraqi delegation. Details of his briefing, and of questions that the Iraqis handed to Secretary General Kofi Annan, filtered out this week.

The Iraqi delegation was led by Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and included Maj. Gen. Hussam Mohammed Amin, Baghdad's liaison for working with inspectors inside Iraq. The Iraqis described the meetings as "constructive and positive." A United Nations spokesman called them "frank and useful."

Diplomats familiar with Mr. Blix's briefing said he avoided being pinned down on how long the inspectors would be in Iraq, explaining that a renewed search for weapons of mass destruction involved many uncertainties, not least being Iraq's cooperation.

United Nations inspectors have not been on Iraqi soil for more than three years, giving Baghdad opportunity to pursue its weapons program without close scrutiny. The United Nations pulled its inspectors out of Iraq in November 1998 after President Saddam Hussein kept obstructing their access. Their departure opened the way for punitive airstrikes in December by the United States and its allies against Baghdad.

A year later, the Security Council made clear in Resolution 1284 that Iraq must cooperate with the inspectors and that substantial progress must be made in fulfilling the remaining disarmament tasks before the penalties could be lifted.

"It's more than just letting us in," a United Nations official said. Diplomats here doubted that progress would be so smooth, given Iraq's history of intransigence. Baghdad is demanding answers to its list of 20 questions about the inspections. Diplomats who have seen them have described some questions as technical, others as provocative and intended to prompt a dialogue that could sow dissension among the members of the council.

Robert Wood, a spokesman for the United States Mission to the United Nations, said the questions given to Mr. Annan were "an attempt by Iraqis to distract U.N. attention away from Iraq's noncompliance with its obligations under Security Council resolutions and to portray Iraq as a victim."

Baghdad's questions vary from disarmament and inspection issues to Iraq's relations with the Security Council and the country's right to defend itself and be compensated for destruction caused by the long-running penalties.

Some questions alluded to the Bush administration's tough stance on Iraq. One question asked whether one permanent Security Council member could interpret the council's resolutions so as to take "unilateral actions" regarding Iraq. Another asked whether threats to invade Iraq and change its government by force violated the United Nations charter, international law and Iraq's own sovereignty.

Other questions asked what was achieved in seven years and seven months of Iraq's cooperation with arms inspectors, what remained to be clarified though inspections, how long would it take to accomplish the tasks and how much time the inspectors would need to reach a degree of certainty that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.

The Iraqis further asked whether the inspection teams would include previous inspectors who were "involved in spying activities." They also asked how American and British inspectors could fulfill a neutral international mandate, and what guarantees there were that the inspectors would not use the same inspection "formula" that led Iraq to be bombed in 1998.

A senior diplomat said Iraq would not be allowed to set preconditions for cooperation. "The Iraqis have nothing to negotiate," he said. "They have to say yes." Mr. Annan forwarded the Iraqis' questions to the council on Tuesday, diplomats said, and gave it the option of responding by April 10. The Iraqis are due back for further talks, possibly on April 18 and 19.

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