Iraq Rejects U.N. Arms Inspectors As Condition To Lift Sanctions
CAIRO (IslamOnline) - Iraq said Thursday it rejected a United Nations offer to dispatch back arms inspectors into the country in return for the start of talks over a possible end to U.N. sanctions against Baghdad.
Speaking in Moscow after a high profile meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said his country rejected redploying U.N. inspectors in the country, a condition many Western countries say Iraq must meet before a 10 year-old economic and oil embargo could be lifted.
Russia backs the lifting of sanctions but has said that Iraq must go back to the negotiation table with the U.N. and allow the return of arms inspectors. Certification that Iraq no longer possesses any weapons of mass destruction is necessary before the oil and trade embargo could be terminated.
On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said talks with Iraqi officials were underway in order to find a way to end the international sanctions and initiate the weapon inspection process in the Arab country.
U.N. officials say that a senior Iraqi delegation will be in New York in January to negotiate a deal to put an end to the embargo, which impoverished the oil-rich country.
Iraq had banned the entry of international observers after the United States and Britain launched joint air-attacks on different parts of Iraq in 1998.
Aziz’s statements cast a shadow over the possibility of a near end to the harsh sanctions imposed on Iraq since Baghdad invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990.
Aziz’s statements contradict those made by Iraqi vice president Ezzat Ibrahim who had signaled his country’s willingness to reconsider its opposition to the return of inspectors early in November.
The return of the oil-rich country to the world market is widely anticipated by oil markets. Oil traders are anxiously watching a Friday U.N. deadline for Iraq to settle its differences with the Security Council.
Under U.N. sanctions, Iraq is allowed to sell a limited amount of oil to buy humanitarian goods and food although the money goes through a special U.N. fund. The deal snagged in November because the U.N. said Iraqi oil exports were too cheap. The U.N. gave Iraq till Friday to correct its pricing system or face an end to its oil exports altogether.
Iraq was preparing for a complete lift of sanctions after several countries voiced their support for the measure. Many countries violated a U.N. flight embargo and landed at Baghdad’s Saddam International Airport.
Aziz was in Moscow after a brief visit to Beijing where he secured China’s support for an end to the economic blockade. Several Arab countries said before they would back an end to the embargo as well.
Russia, a traditional Iraqi ally, was among the first countries to violate a U.N. air embargo two months ago by flying several trips to Baghdad. Moscow, however, maintains that a complete end of sanctions is conditional upon Iraqi cooperation with U.N. inspectors.
Iraq’s isolation, which came after the 1991 Gulf War, pitted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s regime against the joint forces of 33 countries, was also slowly eroding with Baghdad taking diplomatic initiatives to join the international community once again.
Baghdad said it would receive payments for its oil exports in the common European currency, the Euro, rather than the U.S. dollar. It is also working towards opening an oil pipeline that goes through neighboring Syria.
In New Delhi, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan signed an agreement with India that will allow Baghdad to sell $250 million worth of oil to India as part of the U.N.’s oil-for-food deal.
