U.N. OKs Iraq Disarmament Plan Amid Doubt on Access for Inspectors

The Security Council on Thursday unanimously approved a new plan designed to rid Iraq of its remaining weapons of mass destruction, but Russia predicted that Baghdad won’t consider admitting inspectors until patrols over Iraq’s “no-fly” zones stop.

In a preview of the diplomatic maneuvering and debate that lie ahead, Russian Ambassador Sergei V. Lavrov said a second condition for the inspectors’ return should be the cessation of the Clinton administration’s efforts to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

“If the unilateral actions continue, then I don’t believe the atmospherics would be right for any hope of success,” Lavrov said.

He was referring to U.S. and British patrols to protect Kurds in Iraq’s north and Shiite Muslim dissidents in the south from the Baghdad regime and to White House support of the Iraqi National Congress, a coalition of exile groups calling for Hussein’s ouster.

British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, commenting on the conditions Lavrov laid out, said U.S. and British warplane patrols of the zones are justified and “only responsive.” He said that in the last 16 months, Iraq has fired on or taken offensive action against the patrolling aircraft 650 times.

“This charade from Baghdad has really gone on much too long,” U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said, calling for renewed cooperation with the inspectors.

Baghdad has blocked the entry of teams seeking chemical and biological arms and materials designed to build nuclear weapons since December 1998, when the United States and Britain launched airstrikes to punish Hussein for failing to cooperate with the former U.N. disarmament agency.

The new U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission is headed by Hans Blix, whose next task is to pick staff and formulate questions for Iraq about its weapons programs.

“I am quite pleased with the outcome,” Blix, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said after receiving Security Council approval Thursday of his plans for the new agency. “It is a positive reception.”

In his report to the council, Blix called for the commission to be highly technical, nonpolitical and tightly controlled when it comes to handling sensitive intelligence information.

Meeting all these goals could be difficult, some diplomats said. Blix already is facing lobbying from Russia and Iraq’s other allies on the council for major roles in the new organization.

While Blix called for a commission clear of political interference, Lavrov said the panel should have a strong political and legal component to help solve potential problems without finding it necessary “to run every time to the Security Council saying there is a crisis.”

Russia’s ambassador warned that the organization’s plan is just the first step, and he strongly called for Blix to reject some members of the former inspection regime “who abused their positions.”

Lavrov said these people “cannot continue.”

In the past, Iraq has objected to some of the former commission’s experts, saying they were used by the United States to spy on Baghdad.

As the new group takes shape, the initial sparring inside and outside the Security Council is expected to continue.

France already is proposing that the council begin considering specific conditions for the suspension of sanctions even before it is known whether weapons inspectors will be allowed to return to Iraq.

“We would like for the council to begin work on this as soon as possible,” a French diplomat said.

Asked whether the discussion should take place before Baghdad gives its answer, he added, “This is a question of the chicken and the egg you are asking us.”

But Canadian Ambassador Robert Fowler took a different view.

“We very much hope to hear from Iraq,” he said.