Global Policy Forum

By Barbara Crossette

United Nations - The Security Council quickly approved a streamlined arms inspection commission for Iraq today. But Russia warned that it would be on the lookout for anyone named to the panel who might be troublesome to Iraq.

Hans Blix, the new chief inspector and author of the organization plan for the new panel, created by the council in December, said he was pleased with the council endorsement. He is waiting to see what move Iraq makes.

The government of President Saddam Hussein has belittled and criticized the plan for renewed inspections. But Mr. Blix has said his door is open to the Iraqis if they want to talk about it. He added, however, that he would not negotiate the plan's terms. Some council members are already confident that Iraq will eventually comply in some fashion.

On that assumption, Mr. Blix will begin naming a core staff for the commission, the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, and prepare a list of unfinished business in Iraq.

The Russians are expected to try to block the reappointments of two former Russian inspectors with extensive knowledge of the Iraqi missile and chemical weapons programs and who have considerable experience in Iraq.

That raises concerns among independent arms experts that political pressures will weaken the panel. The plan by Mr. Blix, a former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, seems intended to minimize that. It requires that all inspectors be United Nations employees, not officials on loan from governments. It also divides inspection and intelligence gathering, so that the agency cannot be accused of spying for any government.

A year ago, accusations arose that inspectors from the previous arms commission, Unscom, had spied for the United States. But other governments were also known to be collecting information for their own use through inspections in Iraq and may have in some cases passed that on to officials in Baghdad.

Under current Security Council resolutions, Iraq cannot have the sanctions, imposed after it invaded Kuwait in 1990, suspended or lifted until it cooperates with arms inspectors. There have been no inspections since December 1998, when inspectors of the earlier commission were withdrawn in advance of American and British bombing.

The American ambassador, Richard C. Holbrooke, said after the meeting today that Mr. Blix "has done a terrific job" in planning for his agency, known as Unmovic. "This charade from Baghdad really has gone on much too long," Mr. Holbrooke said.

The Iraqis have argued that sanctions should be lifted without further inspections because all of Iraq's weapons have been destroyed as demanded. Iraq has also said that the American-led campaign to keep sanctions in place has caused many deaths and excessive deprivation of the Iraqi people. Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a speech last month that the United Nations was in danger of losing a propaganda war with Mr. Hussein on this issue.

In the last year, support for tough sanctions against Iraq, which had been dwindling even before the 1998 confrontation, have diminished even more, as the Clinton administration considerably reduced its pressures on Iraq.

The use of sanctions generally as a tool of policy will be the subject of a Security Council debate next week.