VARIOUS: U.S PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON SAYS THAT FORCE WILL BE USED IF IRAN CONTINUES TO OPPOSE UNITED NATIONS ARMS INSPECTIONS

Record ID: 402613

  • Title: VARIOUS: U.S PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON SAYS THAT FORCE WILL BE USED IF IRAN CONTINUES TO OPPOSE UNITED NATIONS ARMS INSPECTIONS
  • Date: 11th November 1998
  • Summary: UNITED NATIONS, (NOVEMBER 11, 1998) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE UNITED NATIONS
  • Embargoed: 26th November 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C./ FORT STEWART, GEORGIA/ NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK/ ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, UNITED NATIONS AND BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA34IWFVBOS5GJBDB97HYVNIBX0
  • Story Text: United States President Bill Clinton said he was prepared to use force to end Iraq's defiance of U.N.arms inspectors on Wednesday (November 11), and ordered 129 warplanes and more than 3,000 troops to the Persian Gulf.
    A group of United States soldiers had been preparing to leave for the Persian Gulf Wednesday (November 11) evening, as tension in Iraq heightened.
    President Bill Clinton said Iraq had to comply with the U.N.programme to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction, but Arab nations and Security Council member Russia said they opposed any use of force.
    "We continue to hope, indeed pray, that Saddam will comply (with U.N.inspections)," Clinton said in a Washington speech marking Veterans Day, which honours U.S.war dead."But we must be prepared to act if he does not."
    U.N.envoy Sergei Lavrov said any use of force against Iraq because of its refusal to cooperate with U.N.weapons inspectors would have very serious consequences.
    U.N Security Council President Peter Burleigh told reporters "the ball is in Iraq's court" and urged Iraq to rescind its decision to restrict U.N.arms inspectors in Baghdad.
    Iraq has demanded a review of sanctions imposed on it in 1990 after it invaded Kuwait, sparking the brief but decisive Gulf War early in 1991 in which a broad alliance of Western and Middle Eastern states forced Baghdad's surrender.
    Chief U.N.arms inspector Richard Butler gave one of the clearest signals of U.S.intentions, saying he had pulled all his foreign staff -- about 100 people -- out of Iraq at the "strong recommendation" of Washington.
    The president set no deadline for a decision on military action in the speech, which White House aides cast as a justification for ordering military action if deemed necessary.
    The buildup in a crisis that started on Oct.31 will bring U.S.forces poised near Iraq to more than 300 aircraft and 20 ships, including the aircraft carrier Eisenhower.The carrier Enterprise is also speeding toward the Gulf.
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