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| Iraq |
| Report: Iraq not helping U.N. inspectors |
| 2003-02-20 |
| Iraqi officials are yet to live up to promises of increased support and aid to U.N. inspectors looking for the country's suspected weapons of mass destruction, U.N. officials told The Washington Post. The Post, in a report Thursday from Baghdad, said Iraq is apparently taking heart from the split in the Security Council regarding possible military action against the country and the world-wide protests against war on Iraq. As a result, Iraq has changed from saying that its officials are complying with U.N. demands to asking for a lifting of sanctions instituted against Iraq after it was forced out of Kuwait more than 10 years ago. Yup, those protests are working just fine. "We have not seen any positive moves on the part of Iraq," one U.N. official in Iraq told The Washington Post, while another said, "They are not fulfilling their promises." U.N. inspectors returned to Iraq in November after the Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441, a strongly worded document that promised "serious consequences" should Iraq not live up to the stipulations outlined in the document. Those included giving U.N. inspectors unrestricted access inside Iraq and orders to report any interference by Iraq with the inspections. The newspaper said that since last Friday, when lead weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohammad ElBaradei reported to the Security Council, the United Nations has not seen Iraq carry through on promises to deliver documents about old weapons programs nor have there been interviews with scientists involved with possible weapons technology. "We have done when was asked of us -- and the whole word sees that," the Post quoted an unnamed senior Iraqi official as saying. A U.N. official in Iraq told the newspaper that Iraq could well give in to U.N. demands, but only if the Security Council and lead inspectors push their point. "What we've seen is that without pressure, Iraq is not going to cooperate with the inspectors," the official said. Over the weekend there were large anti-war demonstrations in several cities around the world. The United States and Britain are having trouble finding support for anything stronger than additional inspections in Iraq in their Security Council deliberations. The Post cited Iraqi newspaper accounts terming the anti-war movement a "humiliating international isolation" for the United States and Britain. The Post quoted a U.N. official as saying: "They are feeling: The world opinion is with us. We can resist further pressure. We have time. We can play with the U.S. and U.K. Sammy's been watching CNN and the BBC. "This is very dangerous." The Iraqi's digging in their heels may help get that 2nd resolution. |
| Posted by:Steve |