Iraq Seems to Accept the Weapons Inspection

It seems that Iraq will accept the Weapons Inspection Resolution by the UN Security Council.

The Reuter reported quoting a related person to the Congress that the Iraqi President Sadam Hussein ordered to convoke the Congress at 7:00pm on the 11th (1:00am on the 12th in Korean local time) to discuss whether to accept the resolution or not.

In relation to this, the Iraqi Foreign Minister Niji Sabri suggested during a press conference on the 10th that Iraq was preparing to accept the Inspectors by saying, “We hope the UN Weapons Inspectors are not depending on exiting actions.”

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, who had a private meeting with the Minister Sabri, said, “We showed our intention to cooperate with any of the UN Resolution unless the highest level officials of Iraq notified a military attack,” so he suggested that there was a detailed answer from Iraq.

The Minister Maher positively evaluated the meeting after the talks between the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Minister Sabri saying the UN Resolution “gives a chance for peaceful solution.”

Kuwait urged Iraq to accept the Resolution on the 10th. The Kuwaiti Cabinet urged through a statement, “Iraq must study this resolution thoroughly, and start taking serious and practical actions to show positive trust while responding to a sound demands of the international society.”

The statement, then continued to stress that Iraq should give up any intention to evade the Resolution by the Security Council in relation to removing massive killing weapons and the Kuwaiti POW`s, and added if Iraq accept this, “the brothers in Iraq will not suffer any more.”

In the meantime, the US White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card warned, “In case Iraq does not cooperate with the inspection including refusing the Resolution, we will attack Iraq immediately even without the approval of the UN.” The White House National Security Aide Condoliza Rice warned the same thing and added, “There is a slim chance that the President Hussein will cooperate with the weapons inspection.”

In contrast to the positions of the UK and Australia as well as America is “If Iraq does not cooperate with the weapons inspection, it is possible to attack Iraq without the approval of the UN,” there are some countries saying “No,” so there might be a debate.

China, France, Russia gave a different interpretation than America through a joint statement on the 8th, “The Resolution excludes any automatism in terms of using forces.”

The joint statement insisted that if Iraq did not fulfill her obligation toward the Resolution, “It must be reported to the Chief of the UN Weapons Inspectors or the Secretary General of the IAEA first, then the UN Security Council does some action based on that report.”

Ki-Tae Kwon kkt@donga.com