The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
and
remained in material breach of its obligations, and that OP2
offered Iraq a final
opportunity
to comply.
820.
Mr Straw
also stated:
“The text
sets out the procedure to be followed in the case of failure by
Iraq to
comply; it
requires in operative paragraph 4 that any further material breach
…
should be
reported to the Security Council. It directs in operative paragraph
11 the
Executive
Chairman of UNMOVIC and the Director General of the IAEA to
report
immediately
to the Council any interference by Iraq with their inspection
activities
of failure
to comply with its disarmament obligations. It provides in
operative
paragraph
12 that the Council will convene immediately on receipt of a
report
of non‑compliance
in order to consider the situation.”
“Britain
wants a peaceful resolution to this crisis, and the United States
has
shown by
its engagement in the long negotiation over the past weeks that it
too
is committed
to using the UN route in order to resolve this
problem.”
822.
Quoting
Mr Annan’s remarks (on 16 October), Mr Straw stated that
in relation
to Iraq,
diplomacy had to be backed by military force to succeed and
that:
“The more
credible the threat, the more likely it is that Iraq will respond
to the
demands of
the UN … The choice for Saddam Hussein is to comply with the
UN
or face
the serious consequences.”
823.
Mr Michael
Ancram, the Opposition Front Bench Spokesman on Foreign
Affairs,
asked for
clarification on whether OP2 of the resolution meant
that:
“… in the
event of non‑compliance, no further resolutions will be required?
Is it
implicit in
the resolution that action is already justified by the existing and
continuing
breach of
Iraq’s obligations?”
824.
In response,
Mr Straw referred to the provisions of OPs 1, 2 and 3‑10,
adding:
“… under
operative paragraph 11, the inspectors are under a duty to report
to the
Security
Council if they come across any breach; and under operative
paragraphs
4 and 11,
the Security Council can – and will – resume its meetings to
consider the
circumstances
if there is a breach.
“I do not
want to anticipate what will happen if there is a breach, except to
say that
although we
would much prefer decisions to be taken within the Security
Council, we
have always
made it clear that within international law we have to reserve our
right
to take
military action, if that is required, within the existing charter
and the existing
body of UN
Security Council resolutions, if, for example, a subsequent
resolution
were to be
vetoed … I do not believe it will come to that.”
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