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Iraq to chair Conference on Disarmament
Later this year, the U.N.-established Conference on Disarmament will seat a new president: Iraq. OK, stop laughing all of you, it's true. The nation under scrutiny by the world body for weapons of mass destruction will have control â for nearly four weeks â of the agenda of a committee established in 1979 as "the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community." The conference was formed as a result of the United Nations General Assembly's first Special Session on Disarmament, held in 1978. U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq, at first, was unaware that Iraq's turn was coming up. After further inquiry, however, he found that Baghdad will serve as chair, beginning at the end of May, according to a rotating schedule of the 75 member nations done in alphabetical order. Haq said the role of conference presidency is a matter of "organizing the work and setting the agenda." Does Iraq's defiance of U.N. disarmament resolutions damage the group's credibility? They have credibility to damage? "All the members at some point sit briefly as the chair of its work," Haq replied. "And that includes countries that are party to disarmament treaties and those that aren't." The chair holds the position for half of each session. There are three sessions scheduled for this year. India and Indonesia each have a turn at the presidency during the current session, which runs from Jan. 21 through March 20. Iran and Iraq Couldn't manage to fit North Korea in there? are slated for the top spot during the May 12-June 27 session, and Ireland and Israel are scheduled for the final July 20-Sept. 10 meetings. Not to worry, though Haq insisted that Iraq's upcoming position with the conference is not an issue because the group has not managed to establish an agenda. "I think the main public relations concern is, What does it do substantively?" Haq said. "Since it's not exactly a body that has been meeting to deal with issues substantively for several years, the main worry is not about a procedural issue such as who is the chair; it's about what it can do." Even the UN thinks their Disarmament Conference is useless. Posted by: Steve 2003-01-28 |
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