20 September 2002
UN Arms Inspectors Preparing to Go to Iraq
(UNMOVIC chief reports to Security Council) (630) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- The chief UN weapons inspector officially briefed the Security Council September 19 on preparations under way to begin inspections in Iraq, where, he said, "there will be no sanctuaries."
Hans Blix, chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) said that he wants "to get off to a flying start" with inspections as soon as possible. He said that his upcoming meeting in Vienna with Iraqi officials the week of September 30 will be to go over the details of what is needed to conduct inspections but "we are not giving any discounts on Security Council resolutions."
Talking with journalists after his almost two-hour private meeting with the Security Council, Blix said that the practical arrangements to be discussed include "how do we get there, how do we land, what is our cooperation with the national directorate, accommodations, security of inspectors, flight path of helicopters, communications, transportation, jeeps."
"There are quite a few such things that need to be settled. Since we want to have successful inspections and we want to avoid any clashes, differences, and conflict with Iraq, we think it would be best to talk to them about what our rights are, explain to them so they know what they can expect," he said. "We are not uncertain about what the resolutions say...but we do need to explain.
"We are the servants of the Security Council and we are basing ourselves on Resolution 1284 and preceding resolutions beginning in 1991 with Resolution 687, etc. We know all this. We are not in doubt about what needs to be done," the UNMOVIC chief said.
After the Vienna meeting, the first step for UNMOVIC will be to send administrative staff into Baghdad to check the condition of the UN offices that were vacated almost four years ago and to reopen laboratories, replace computers if necessary, and basically get the infrastructure in place before the weapons inspectors arrive.
Blix noted that the inspectors come from 45 difference countries and are in their homelands, so preparations have to be made to get them to Iraq. Nevertheless, he stressed, the inspectors will be UN employees and will not be paid by their governments.
Blix said that he has some sites he wants the inspectors to look at immediately, but he has not discussed the sites with Iraqi officials.
Blix said he will demand full, unfettered access to any site for his inspectors.
Presidential sites will not be spared by UNMOVIC, he said. "There is a special procedure laid down (for presidential sites) and I told (the Iraqis) that I will make use of such a right."
"We are not giving any immunities. In our view, there are no sanctuaries in Iraq," he said.
UNMOVIC will welcome any intelligence information from other governments on potential weapons sites, the chairman said. Nevertheless, "intelligence, in our view, is a one-way traffic. If member governments want us to try to find anything hidden, well, give us information. But we are not supposed to give information back."
"Some may not like that, but I think integrity is more important than information," Blix said.
Once UNMOVIC is fully operational in Iraq, it will have 60 days to draw up a program of work and report back to the Security Council. In the past Blix has said that after that point, with Baghdad's cooperation, he expects to have the disarmament of Iraq completed in a year.
Secretary General Kofi Annan met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri September 18 and stressed "the need to provide full and unconditional cooperation to the UN inspectors and reaffirmed his confidence in Blix's professionalism and impartiality," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
Eckhard said that the United Nations does not see the upcoming meeting in Vienna as negotiations with the Iraqis, but "discussions on practical arrangements on the understanding that there are no conditions."
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
