U.N. Weapons Team Stymied, Will Leave Iraq

A U.N. weapons inspection team, accusing Baghdad of a “material breach” of cease-fire resolutions, announced Sunday that it is leaving Iraq after being denied permission to install surveillance cameras at two missile testing sites.

“We have been prevented from accomplishing our mission,” said Nikita Smidovich, the Russian head of the three-person crew commissioned to install the cameras.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher called the latest standoff between Iraq and the United Nations “a bad sign.” Appearing on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press,” he said that “the situation is very serious, and there is an obstruction of the inspection activities of the (U.N.) Special Commission.”

Iraq has repeatedly said in recent days that it is not opposed to the “principle” of having the cameras on the two sites, Yam Azim and Rafah, 40 miles south of the capital, but it insists on “technical discussions.”

“The question is not the cameras,” Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz said in an interview with CNN last week. “Let us have technical discussions.” He said Iraq wants some indication that sanctions against it will be lifted if it goes along with U.N. demands.

“They have had ample opportunities for technical discussion,” Smidovich said, noting that his team, here since June 4, had presented the Iraqis with a number of manuals on which he was never asked any questions.

The U.N. Security Council has warned Baghdad of “serious consequences” if it continues to violate cease-fire terms, specifically if it persists in refusing to install the cameras.

Smidovich, asked about possible military action as he spoke to reporters on the eve of his departure, said, “It’s up to the Security Council to decide on its response.”

The latest standoff, the worst with the United Nations since January, comes one week after a U.S. cruise missile attack on an intelligence headquarters in Baghdad. It is another example of the battle of wills that Iraq has waged to save face and prevent what it sees as undue, and possibly irreversible, international involvement in its arms development and production.

The cameras, to be linked to U.N. offices in Baghdad, are intended to ensure that Iraq does not develop missiles with a range of more than 150 kilometers (93 miles)--the limit contained in U.N. Resolution 687, which set cease-fire conditions for ending the Persian Gulf War.

Iraq and U.N. authorities are preparing for talks in New York on Wednesday to determine whether Baghdad will strike a deal to resume selling its oil abroad, but only under U.N. supervision.

An Iraqi official said he believes the sudden withdrawal of the U.N. team after one month was aimed “at exerting pressure on Iraq to win a compromise on the oil issue.”

In both the camera and oil disputes, Iraq is resisting what it says would amount to surrendering its sovereignty. “If they want to install cameras on these sites, soon they will want to install cameras in our offices and our homes,” an Iraqi said.

Despite last Sunday’s attack against the intelligence headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq’s leadership has largely refrained from directly criticizing President Clinton. The official Iraqi daily Al Thawra, however, published an open letter to Clinton’s daughter titled, “Chelsea, Your Father Is a Killer.”

It is apparent, however, that few here are in the mood for revenge.

Babel, a newspaper run by President Saddam Hussein’s son Odai, ran an opinion poll on its front page Sunday that said that a large percentage of the Iraqi people favor “patience in responding to the aggression” rather than retaliation.