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Annan has a legal obligation now to save the Iraqi people from any U.S. attack
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UNITED
NATIONS, September 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Egypt and
Jordan, key allies of the United States in the Middle East, Tuesday,
September 17, dismissed the U.S. call for a tough new Security Council
resolution on Iraq. Russia, meanwhile, delayed discussion at the U.N.
Security Council of Iraq's offer to allow the return of weapons
inspectors.
“After
the letter by the Iraqi government, I see no need for another Security
Council resolution,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told
reporters, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
On
Monday, September 16, Iraq wrote to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan
saying that it would accept the return of United
Nations weapons inspectors without conditions.
“We
see no reason to go to the Security Council now except to register
this agreement,” Maher said.
For
his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher concurred, saying
the Iraqi was “a very positive step in the right direction.”
He
added, “I believe the tension has been defused. I think the letter
is clear and I think we should take it at face value.”
Earlier
Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States
would push for another Council resolution despite the Iraqi move.
U.S.
officials, however, said Washington wanted a new text which would
“catalogue the sins of (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein” and spell
out clearly the consequences he would face if he failed to comply with
the Security Council's demands.
Another
key player, Russia, said it did not want Iraq discussed until after a
meeting expected Thursday, September 19, in Washington between Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Powell, diplomatic sources told AFP.
As
one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, Russia has
the power of veto over any resolution.
“Thanks
to our joint efforts, we managed to avert the threat of a war scenario
and go back to political means of solving the Iraqi problem,” Ivanov
told Russian media in New York.
“It
is essential in the coming days to resolve the issue of the
inspectors’ return. For this, no new (Security Council) resolutions
are needed,” ITAR-TASS quoted him as saying.
“To
allay the concerns of the world community, we need the involvement of
the inspectors. Their return is the key task,” Ivanov added.
The
Security Council met on Tuesday morning for the first time since Iraq,
facing mounting international pressure, agreed to allow the
“unconditional” return of inspectors, were withdrawn in 1998, on
the eve of U.S.-British air strikes on the country.
However,
the Council’s agenda was dominated by events in West Africa and
Burundi.
In
a separate related development, the makeup of the new United Nations
arms inspectorate to Iraq differs significantly from the controversial
team it replaced.
The
U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) has
a professional-grade staff of 58 at its New York headquarters and will
draw from a roster of 230 experts to carry out its inspections, AFP
reported.
Aware
that members of the former U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) were
accused of spying for the United States, UNMOVIC chairman Hans Blix
built a team with a wide geographical background.
He
also insisted that the inspectors work on contract to the United
Nations, rather than seconded from Defense Ministries and other
government departments. The chief inspectors will be drawn from
headquarters staff.
The
headquarters staff - including eight women - represent 24
nationalities, Blix told the U.N. Security Council in his latest
quarterly report, while the outside experts represent 44
nationalities.
