UNITED NATIONS, 20 December 2002 — The United States told the UN Security Council yesterday that it considered Iraq in “material breach” of a UN resolution over its arms declaration and threatened war on the Arab state.
US Ambassador John Negroponte told the Security Council that Iraq was in “material breach” because of omissions in its 12,000-page arms declaration.
And in Washington, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said there would be no peaceful solution to the crisis in Iraq if Baghdad continues with “its pattern of lying.” “There is no question that Iraq continues its pattern of non-cooperation, its pattern of deception, its pattern of dissembling, its pattern of lying, and if that is going to be the way they continue through the weeks ahead, then we’re not going to find a peaceful solution to this problem,” Powell told a news conference.
Powell condemned Iraq’s arms declaration as riddled with deceptions and omissions. “The United States, United Nations and the world waited for this declaration from Iraq, Iraq’s response is a catalogue of recycled information and flagrant omissions,” he said. “These are material omissions that in our view constitute another material breach. We are disappointed, we are not deceived.”
The chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, said that Iraq’s arms declaration contained little new information, a conclusion echoed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Blix said that the world cannot be sure that Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction. He said “relatively little” evidence had been given in Iraq’s declaration to back its claims it had destroyed its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. “The absence of that evidence means of course that we cannot have confidence that there do not remain weapons of mass destruction,” Blix told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council.
Blix said the analysis of the Iraqi document would continue and that he and El-Baradei would return to the Security Council in January.
El-Baradei told the Security Council that Iraq had given no new information on its nuclear program, according to a text of his statement released by the IAEA. Later he told reporters that inspectors “are making good progress in having access to sites. Iraq is cooperating well in terms of process.” But he said international inspectors need more “in terms of substance” and added “that’s a challenge for both of them and us.”
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Iraq’s weapons declaration left some areas unexplained but added he was confident UN inspections would fill in the gaps.
But America’s staunchest ally, Britain said Iraq had “failed to meet the obligations imposed on it”. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, however, said that war with Iraq was “not inevitable”. “It is a very serious failure to comply and a clear warning has to go out to Iraq that they now have to cooperate fully with the UN and its inspectors,” he said.
Syria said it was boycotting the Security Council talks on the Iraqi declaration in protest at receiving an edited, 3,500-page copy. It said it wanted the full version that was given to the five permanent Council members.
Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Baghdad would “make clarifications” if necessary on its arms dossier. “I can reassure you the report is complete,” he told French RFI radio in a recorded interview through an interpreter. “If need be, Iraq is ready to make clarifications.”
“Iraq has no arms of mass destruction. I think the United States is well placed to know this in the first place but the United States is looking for a pretext for an attack,” he said.
“Every people and every nation has the right to defend itself through all possible means,” Ramadan warned.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense yesterday ordered four more large merchant ships to haul armor in preparation for a possible military assault on Iraq, shipping sources said. “They’ve come in again today for four roll-on roll-off ships to carry tracked vehicles, and containers, probably used to store ammunition,” an industry source familiar with MoD operations told Reuters. The tender request follows an order for three ships on Wednesday. The source said the four fresh orders were for delivery by Jan. 15 and were exactly the same size as the one requested on Wednesday. Each can carry up to 10,000 tons of equipment. (Agencies)
