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Iraq Says It's Ready For U.N. Talks Without Conditions
With additional reporting by S.M. Khalid
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iraq recently informed the United Nations that it is prepared to resume negotiations with the world body, but Baghdad has not informed the UN if it is willing to discuss the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.
Amr Mousa, secretary-general of the Arab League who recently visited the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Iraq would restart talks without any special conditions, the United Nations said in a statement Monday.
Annan said he was prepared to receive a delegation from Iraq.
Iraq has been under U.N. economic sanctions since it invaded Kuwait in 1990. The sanctions cannot be lifted unless U.N inspectors verify that Baghdad has dismantled its weapons of mass destruction.
But U.N. inspectors left Baghdad in December 1998 ahead of U.S. and British air strikes, and Iraq has barred them from returning. Iraqi officials have called them “spies.”
Annan held talks with Iraqi officials in February 2001 to try to bridge the impasse, but U.N. officials said no real progress was achieved.
The United Nations has said it wants the next round of talks to prepare the way for resuming inspections and ultimately lifting sanctions.
The Security Council has promised to consider suspending sanctions for renewable 120-day periods if inspectors report that Iraq has cooperated.
Some analysts said they are skeptical about Baghdad's offer to resume negotiations with the U.N.
"It's too early to tell," said former Ambassador Robert Pelletrau, an Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Asian Affairs under former U.S. president Bill Clinton. "The Iraqis have, in the past, engaged in talks with the U.N. before, but it has always been a subterfuge, a way to keep their own position. And that's not what the Security Council and the Secretary General had in mind."
Pelletrau noted that Annan invited Hans Blix, the head of UNSCOM, to his meeting with Mousa.
"If there is seriousness and an Iraqi willingness," added Pelletrau, "then this could be a positive development."
Iraq insists it has complied with all the demands of U.N. inspectors and wants the sanctions lifted completely. Only then, it says, will it consider allowing inspectors back in.
In Moscow, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan once again urged for the end of U.N. economic sanctions.
"It is high time to lift sanctions against Iraq instead of discussing new lists," said Ramadan.
The anti-Iraqi sanctions "should be washed out," Ramadan added. "We are actively working on this. We are signing contracts and building relations. Our partners sometimes keep silent about that, but they are washing out the sanctions we have unfairly lived under for 12 years." he noted.
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Ramadan claimed Washington "has toughened its policy even more, which was the reason for the events in New York and Washington: its policy has become even dirtier."
Ramadan warned, "If nothing changes, America will draw even larger fire on itself. Something even more dreadful than the events of September 11 may happen. It will be a very tough response."
Iraq has been singled out as one of the most likely targets in a second phase of the U.S.-led war on terrorism. U.S. President George W. Bush referred to Iraq in his State of the Union address as part of an “axis of evil” that includes Iran and North Korea.
Bush also recently warned Iraq of unspecified consequences if it didn't resume cooperating with U.N. inspectors.
"Saddam knows what he must do," said National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in a recent interview. "He must stop threatening his neighbors, repressing his people and pursuing mass destruction weapons."
The Baghdad regime "boasts of defying the desire of the international community that it should behave in a way that does not threaten its people," she pointed out.
Rice said the United States did not plan to engage the Iraqi opposition in an effort to overthrow the Iraqi leader, as it helped Afghan opposition forces topple the Taliban militia.
"We will not try to apply the Afghan model to other countries. It would be wrong to follow such logic," she affirmed. "But we do support those who oppose him [Saddam], and there are many who oppose him in various parts of the country."
Arab League Secretary Amr Mousa, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington concerning Iraq said, "It is the position of the Arab League that we cannot condone or accept military action against any Arab country, including of course, Iraq."
"The conditions under which the Iraqi people live need also a fresh look," including sanctions, he added.
Some experts say recent public comments from administration officials project a definite change of attitude towards Iraq.
"Clearly, there are people in the administration who want to do something about Saddam," said Phebe Marr, a senior fellow and scholar on Iraq. "Clearly, the region and the Arabs don't want to see another war. In order to forestall such, they are pressuring Baghdad to let the U.N. inspectors in."
Marr argued that until Iraq's intentions toward resuming cooperation with the U.N. are clear, "debate on other issues, like ending economic sanctions, adopting smart sanctions or extending the oil-for-food program, will be postponed. The Arabs and the region have put a lot of pressure on the regime to forestall something worse."
While Saddam Hussein's government is clearly reacting to the mood in Washington, Marr said she was skeptical about how far Baghdad would go with the U.N.
"I don't believe Saddam is ready to allow real inspections in Baghdad," said Marr. "He's not going to do this without conditions, such as the end of sanctions or the no-fly zones. If Baghdad is going to be serious about getting into discussions, it will be long and drawn out."
In recent weeks, Iraq has made several diplomatic overtures.
It asked the European Union for a high-level dialogue on U.N. sanctions and other policy issues, but EU diplomats indicated the 15-nation group was unlikely to accept because sanctions were the prerogative of the United Nations.
Iraq also allowed international nuclear experts from the U.N. atomic energy agency to begin "limited'' inspections of a nuclear research center. The inspectors arrived in Baghdad on Friday.
Iraq also invited the U.N. human rights expert on the country to visit - the first such invitation in 10 years, the world body said Monday.
On Nov. 30, the Security Council extended the U.N. humanitarian program for Iraq until May and prepared the way for an overhaul of sanctions, which the Iraqi government has rejected.
The oil-for-food program was created in 1996 as an exception to sanctions to ease the suffering of 22 million Iraqis. It allows Iraq to sell unlimited amounts of oil to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies, and to pay war reparations.
In addition, representatives of Saddam's government also met with Swiss officials, agreeing to reopen Baghdad's embassy in Switzerland after a closure of 11 years.
The regime also continues to engage in closer relations with Iran, with which it fought a deadly eight-year war during the 1980s. Direct flights will soon resume between the two countries for the first time in some twenty years, and recent months have seen more releases of prisoners captured during the war.
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