UN will decide on "Iraq not complying" complaint

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15: The Security Council will consider on Monday how to reply to UN arms inspection chiefs who say Iraq's refusal to ...

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15: The Security Council will consider on Monday how to reply to UN arms inspection chiefs who say Iraq’s refusal to cooperate means they cannot be sure it is complying with their requirements, Council members said.Letters were sent to the Council this week by Richard Butler, head of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM), and Mohamed el-Baradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Unscom is charged with scrapping Iraq’s chemical, biological and ballistic missile systems and the IAEA monitors the country’s nuclear programmes.

Both arms chiefs formally notified the council that, because of Baghdad’s decision this month to stop cooperating with them, they could not provide the same level of assurance as before that Iraq was not trying to rebuild banned weapons.Butler specifically asked for guidance from the Council. One Council source said it was likely the Council would instruct Unscom and IAEA chiefs to go ahead with inspections but would implicitly leaveit up to them to decide when and where to send out teams.

Asked whether this would not set up a confrontation with Iraq, the source said, “the Iraqis would have to think twice before blocking a specific inspection. Right now the inspections are not taking place, so there is nothing to be blocked.”