U.N. Inspector Sees ‘Light at End of Tunnel’ in Iraq
Chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler said Monday that he could wrap up work on Iraq’s disarmament within months, raising the prospect that sanctions may be eased.
Butler said that most outstanding issues could be resolved by August and that, with full Iraqi cooperation, their resolution could lead to verification in October that Baghdad had scrapped its weapons of mass destruction.
“The light at the end of the tunnel is today more visible than it has been for a very long time,” Butler said.
Diplomats say if the U.N. Security Council endorsed such a report, it would trigger the lifting of an embargo on Iraqi oil exports.
It would not herald the automatic end of wider trade sanctions, despite Iraq’s insistence that all sanctions must go when it is declared free of chemical, biological and long-range ballistic weapons.
Iraq currently is allowed to sell $5.25 billion in oil over six months to buy food, medicine and other necessities.
Diplomats in Baghdad said privately that Butler and his inspectors are under pressure from some Security Council members--France and Russia--to end the inspections as soon as possible.
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