Annan, U.S. Deny Iraq Spy Accusations

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the U.S. State Department and the chief U.N. arms inspector for Iraq all denied Wednesday that U.N. weapons teams collected sensitive electronic intelligence for the Clinton administration designed to topple the government of Saddam Hussein.

“We not only have no convincing evidence of these allegations, we have no evidence of any kind,” said Fred Eckhard, Annan’s spokesman.

“Have we facilitated spying? Are we spies? Absolutely not,” reporters were angrily told by Richard Butler, chairman of the United Nations Special Commission charged with destroying Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, known as UNSCOM.

And James P. Rubin, the State Department’s spokesman, said that “at no time did the U.S. work with anyone at UNSCOM to collect information for the purpose of undermining the Iraqi regime.”

The avalanche of denials was set off by articles in two major newspapers. The Boston Globe said U.S. intelligence agencies using the arms inspectors as a cover conducted an important spying operation designed to penetrate Iraq’s intelligence apparatus and track Hussein’s movements.

The Washington Post reported that Annan had obtained what he regarded as convincing evidence that the inspectors helped collect eavesdropping material used by Americans in efforts to undermine Iraq’s government.

The Post quoted unnamed confidants of the secretary-general as saying he was deeply alarmed by the implications for the United Nations, which cannot be a party to efforts to overthrow one of its member states.

Butler and the State Department said the arms inspectors in Iraq had received “technical assistance” from the United States, including a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.

Rubin said the aid was requested by UNSCOM and “involved the provision of intelligence and technology . . . that has been vital to the effectiveness of the United Nations carrying out its inspection mandate.”

He declined to answer directly when asked whether, as a byproduct of providing the assistance, the U.S. may have obtained some sensitive information.

“It is very difficult for me to be more specific without going into the details of what U.N. inspectors or others are doing,” Rubin said.

He added that none of this activity would have been necessary if Iraq had lived up to its obligations to destroy its weapons of mass destruction.

The inspection program, mandated after the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, has proceeded in fits and starts. After U.S. and British military attacks on Iraq in mid-December, Hussein’s government, which accused UNSCOM of spying, pledged that it will never allow the weapons inspectors to return to the country. A report by Butler that Iraq was continuing to block the inspectors from sensitive sites was cited as the reason for the bombing.

In a statement read by Eckhard, Annan rejected the Post’s contention that “so-called ‘confidants’ ” knew his state of mind, or that he is trying to pressure Butler to resign.

“That is not so,” the statement said in capital letters.

Eckhard said that UNSCOM reports to the Security Council and that the secretary-general had little detailed information about the inspectors’ day-to-day operations. He added that when Annan first heard the allegations some weeks ago, he approached Butler, who “categorically denied them.”

“We have only rumors,” Eckhard said. “Neither the secretary-general nor any member of his staff has access to classified U.S. intelligence, although UNSCOM does.”

In recent weeks, Annan has criticized Butler’s bluntness while maintaining that the two have a working relationship. Some members of Annan’s staff, however, have made no secret of the fact that they would like Butler to leave--an opinion also held by Russia and China, Iraq’s strongest allies on the Security Council.

At the United Nations, Butler again stressed that he has no intention of quitting. However, the Sydney Morning Herald reported today that Butler said he is contemplating stepping down when his term ends June 30.

Rubin said that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke with Annan on Wednesday and that he reassured her he was supportive of Butler and the work of the weapons inspectors. However, a State Department official described the phone conversation as “not their friendliest discussion.”

A senior U.S. official who requested anonymity said the administration believes that the reports of the U.S.-UNSCOM relationship were disseminated by someone close to Annan in an effort “to set Butler up for a fall.”

The Boston Globe said the equipment the U.S. provided to UNSCOM included commercial scanning radios that allowed the inspectors in Baghdad to monitor cell phone and other communications by members of Iraq’s security forces.

The newspaper said U.S., British and Israeli intelligence analysts helped interpret the information.

Some experts say the actions of Hussein’s Republican Guards lie at the heart of the problem. Not only do these security forces protect Iraq’s president, they are used to constantly hide the remnants of his proscribed arsenal, they say.

Monitoring radio frequencies and other means of communication is an “elementary job that all intelligence agencies do,” said Gary Milhollin, executive director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a Washington think tank that keeps close track of the disarmament efforts in Iraq. He said it would be “perfectly legitimate” for UNSCOM to be in the intelligence business.

Times staff writers Norman Kempster and Robin Wright in Washington contributed to this report.