3.8 |
Development of UK strategy and options, 8 to 20 March
2003
1029.
Sir Jeremy
Greenstock reported:
“Even at
the precipice of war, Aldouri maintains Iraq has no
WMD.”346
1030.
Mr Annan
stated that he shared “the regrets expressed by many members of
the
Council”
that it had “not been possible to reach a common
position”.347
It was “a
sad day
for the
United Nations and the international community”. He knew that
“millions of people
around the
world” shared that “sense of disappointment” and were “deeply
alarmed by
the
prospect of imminent war”.
1031.
Mr Annan
added that it was the “plight of the Iraqi people” that was now his
“most
immediate
concern”. In the short term, a conflict could “make things worse –
perhaps
much
worse”. The members of the Council should agree to “do everything
we can to
mitigate
this imminent disaster”.
1032.
Mr Annan
explicitly pointed out that:
“Under
international law, the responsibility for protecting civilians in
conflict falls on
the
‘belligerents’. In any area under military occupation,
responsibility for the welfare
of the
population falls on the Occupying Power.”
1033.
Mr Annan
added that: “Without in any way assuming or diminishing that
ultimate
responsibility”,
the UN would do “whatever we can to help”. There would be an
appeal
for more
funds to finance relief operations and decisions by the Council
would be
needed to
adjust the Oil-for-Food programme.
1034.
Mr Annan
concluded by expressing:
“… the hope
that the effort to relieve the sufferings of the Iraqi people and
to
rehabilitate
their society after so much destruction may yet be the task around
which
the unity
of the Council can be rebuilt.”
1035.
Sir Jeremy
Greenstock commented that France, Russia, Germany and
Syria
had been
“most forthright in underlining that peaceful disarmament would
have been
possible”;
and that most delegations had underlined “the importance of
re-establishing
Council
unity”. He concluded:
“The day
went as well as could have been expected with no real
recrimination.
While there
was a lot of regret and gloom about the political state we had
reached,
there was
just as much focus on the way forward and humanitarian efforts.
Many will
have
wondered why Ministers were there at all.”348
346
Telegram
492 UKMIS New York to FCO London, 20 March 2003, ‘Iraq: 19 March
Open Debate’.
347
UN Security
Council, ‘4721st Meeting Wednesday 19 March 2003’
(S/PV.4721).
348
Telegram
492 UKMIS New York to FCO London, 20 March 2003, ‘Iraq: 19 March
Open Debate’.
585