Furor Expected Over Report on Iraq Inspectors

A report that U.N. weapons inspectors supplied intelligence used by the Clinton administration in an effort to destabilize Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is expected to be denied by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Yet it is certain to set off a furor at the United Nations and could provide ammunition for Baghdad’s government.

Citing sources close to the secretary-general, the Washington Post said in today’s editions that Annan had obtained what he regarded as convincing evidence that UNSCOM--the U.N. Special Commission charged with ridding Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction--had helped collect eavesdropping intelligence used by Washington to try to undermine the leadership of the government in Baghdad.

The Post said Annan is convinced that the Clinton administration used the information to penetrate Hussein’s personal security system.

Such activities, the Post said, citing advisors to the secretary-general, would not only violate UNSCOM’s mandate but put the United Nations in the untenable position of being a party to an operation to destabilize a member state.

In the past, the Iraqi government has accused UNSCOM of harboring spies--a charge that probably will be repeated in the days ahead.

Annan has told key staff members that he has no knowledge of the activities alleged by the Post.

UNSCOM’s chairman, Richard Butler, denied helping any member state, the Post reported.

After last month’s U.S.-led airstrikes on Iraq, Annan talked with Butler about allegations that UNSCOM helped the U.S. select targets. Butler told Annan this was untrue.

Butler told the Post that he had always been “assiduous” in insisting that any help given UNSCOM by member states be “strictly related to our disarmament mandate.”

“I have never approved of any assistance to any member state which would serve their unilateral purposes,” he said.

Russia and China have called for Butler, a blunt-spoken Australian, to resign as UNSCOM’s chairman. He is backed by the United States and Britain, which has sharply divided the Security Council.

Council members so far have been unable to arrive at a coherent post-bombing strategy toward Iraq.

Baghdad’s government, which has castigated Butler, has barred the weapons inspectors from reentering the country after the bombings. Some intelligence analysts say the presence of inspectors is vital if Iraq’s disarmament is to continue.

Annan has been lukewarm in his support of Butler, criticizing the chief weapons inspector’s bluntness but stating that he has a working relationship with the UNSCOM chairman. It is no secret, however, that some of Annan’s advisors view Butler as a liability and would like him to resign.

Butler has rejected such suggestions, saying Hussein is the real problem and that a personnel dispute should not reduce the need for UNSCOM.

Butler’s report that Iraq had refused to cooperate with the weapons inspectors was cited by the United States and Britain as the reason for the air attacks.