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U.N. Security Council members unanimously approve a new Iraq resolution
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UNITED
NATIONS, November 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - After weeks of
tough negotiations, the U.N. Security Council unanimously voted
Friday, November 8, to send U.N. inspectors into Iraq and warned of
"serious consequences" if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
fails to meet disarmament obligations.
The
inspectors must return within seven weeks and have greatly enhanced
powers to seek out its weapons of mass destruction, said Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
All
15 council members voted for the U.S. drafted resolution giving Iraq
seven days to accept what it called "a final opportunity to
comply with its disarmament obligations."
The
vote was taken in the presence of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan,
who urged the Iraqi leadership to accept the resolution "for the
sake of its own people and for the sake of world security and world
order."
It
came eight weeks after U.S. President George W. Bush told the United
Nations in a speech to the General Assembly on September 12 that it
must "move deliberately and decisively to hold Iraq to
account."
The
council resolution, negotiated word by word by the five veto-carrying
permanent members, reminded Iraq that it had been repeatedly warned of
"serious consequences" if it continued to obstruct the
inspectors.
It
said the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission
(UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must start
inspections within 45 days, that is by December 23.
Hanx
Blix, the UNMOVIC chief, has said that he and the IAEA director
general, Mohamed El-Baradei, will lead an advance team to Baghdad
within a week to 10 days.
Its
job will be to reopen offices that have not been used for four years,
to replace computers that have become obsolete and buy jeeps, three
heavy helicopters and five light helicopters which Blix has said he
needs.
Intrusive
inspections of Iraq's suspected weapons sites are unlikely to start
for at least two months after that.
But
Iraq is already on notice that it must cooperate fully or run the risk
of military attack.
It
has 30 days from the adoption of the resolution to make a currently
accurate, full and complete declaration of its programs to develop
chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
This
even includes chemical and biological programs which Iraq claims are
not related to weapon production.
Blix
unsuccessfully argued that Iraq -- a major petroleum exporter -- might
find it difficult to give a full account of its civilian
petro-chemical industry in only 30 days.
False
statements or omissions, together with a failure to cooperate, would
constitute "further material breach" of Iraq's obligations
-- diplomatic language exposing it to retaliation.
Under
prolonged pressure in consultations from France and Russia, the United
States and Britain -- the co-sponsors of the resolution -- agreed to
wording which says the U.N. Security Council will immediately convene
to discuss what to do in that event.
Diplomats
said the United States would almost certainly ask the Council to
authorize other U.N. member states to join it in a military attack on
Iraq.
The
Bush administration has left no one in any doubt that if the Council
withholds its approval, the United States will act alone.
In
a related development, Bush warned Baghdad Friday that the U.S. and
its allies "will disarm" Iraq if Saddam Hussein defies the
U.N. resolution.
"If
Iraq fails to fully comply, the United States and other nations will
disarm Saddam Hussein," Bush said from the White House Rose
Garden shortly after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved
the U.S.-drafted resolution.
Meanwhile,
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said Friday that the
U.S.-drafted resolution on disarming Iraq was "the optimum
solution given present circumstances", Interfax news agency
reported.
