3.5 |
Development of UK strategy and options, September to November 2002
–
the
negotiation of resolution 1441
549.
Mr Levitte
concluded the Council was discussing:
“… the
future of the international order, relations between North and
South, and
notably,
our relationship with the Arab world. An action of uncertain
legitimacy … that
does not
enjoy the support of the international community, would not be
understood
and could
gravely affect these relations.
“By placing
this action within the framework of collective security, the
French
approach
aims to ensure its legitimacy and effectiveness, while respecting
the
principles
defined by the United Nations Charter.”
550.
In his opening
remarks, Mr Sergei Lavrov, Russian Permanent
Representative
to the
UN, stated:
“For almost
12 years now, the international community has sought a way to
settle
the Iraqi
situation. Throughout that time the Security Council has adopted
more than
50
resolutions and endured several severe crises. The current ongoing
impasse is
rooted not
only in the position of the Iraqi side, although we are far from
condoning
Baghdad’s
behaviour, while the need for Iraq to meet all its obligations …
has been
frequently
alluded to … We fully support such assessments. At the same time,
in a
number of
instances the Security Council has been unable to hold up its own
end
with
respect to an objective assessment of the situation and to meeting
its own
obligations
to work for a comprehensive settlement …”
551.
After making
similar remarks to Mr Levitte on the overall achievements of
the
inspectors,
Mr Lavrov stated that it was unfortunate that the Council “was
not able
to
recognise” the opinion of the IAEA in 1998 that its task could be
converted into a
“long‑term
monitoring regime”. That conclusion had been supported in a letter
from
Dr ElBaradei
to the President of the Council on 14 October, which had “clearly
indicated”
there were
“no outstanding unresolved nuclear issues requiring further
clarification”.
Mr Lavrov
added that:
•
There was a
“virtually complete picture of the missile situation”.
•
A
“significant portion of the stocks of chemical weapons” had been
destroyed,
“although
there were some outstanding issues requiring further
clarification”.
•
The
“largest problems persisted in the biological sphere”.
•
“But on
these issues and all the outstanding issues, solutions were
possible.
At any
rate, documents of the former UNSCOM testify that such was the
case.”
•
“In
December 1998 the head of the former UNSCOM [Dr Richard
Butler]
provoked a
crisis, arbitrarily withdrawing inspectors from Iraq without
the
approval of
the Security Council. His report came to the Security Council
only
after [the]
United States and the United Kingdom had launched military
strikes
against
Iraq.”
299