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Reluctant Iraq accepts new U.N. resolution to allow inspectors

Iraq reluctantly accepted a tough new U.N. resolution Nov. 13 that gives Baghdad one last chance to disarm and paves the way for weapons inspectors to return to the country after a four-year absence.

Faced with a Nov. 15 deadline, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri surprised diplomats by submitting a letter of acceptance to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan two days early.

The nine-page letter called the United States and Britain liars and manipulators, and denied Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction. It also accused other members of the U.N. Security Council, who approved the resolution in a 15-0 vote Nov. 8, of succumbing to American pressure.

But Sabri nevertheless wrote, "We hereby inform you that we will deal with resolution 1441, despite its bad contents."

"Iraq has accepted," Annan told reporters outside the White House after meeting President George W. Bush, saying the inspectors could now go to Baghdad on Nov. 25.

"I think the issue is not the acceptance but performance on the ground," he said. "I urge the Iraqis to cooperate with them and to perform. I think that is the real test we are all waiting for."

While the current president of the Security Council, Yishan Zhang of China, said the 15-member body welcomed "the correct decision" by Iraq, Bush again warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein he had to disarm or the United States would do it for him. "If he chooses not to disarm, we will disarm him. That should be clear to Saddam and everybody else," he said.

In his letter, Sabri also stressed that the Security Council had a duty to lift sanctions against Iraq, first imposed when Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

And he noted the 1991 ceasefire resolution 687 called for the Middle East region to be free of weapons of mass destruction, saying this provision should be applied to Israel, the "Zionist entity."

Shukan ST: Nov. 22, 2002

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