- Title: USA/UK/FRANCE: FURTHER REACTIONS TO IRAQI ARMS DECLARATION
- Date: 20th December 2002
- Summary: (U7) WASHINGTON, D.C., USA (DECEMBER 19, 2002) (REUTERS) LV/ZOOM/GV: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL ENTERING STATE DEPARTMENT BRIEFING ROOM MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) POWELL SAYING: "The important point I think is that what we heard from Dr. Blix and Dr. ElBaradei this morning and what I heard from other members of the [Security] Council who have spoken is that 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." GV: REPORTERS MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) POWELL SAYING: "We are doing everything we can to avoid war. The president's made that clear. But if war comes, the only thing I would say about the nature of that conflict is that it will be done in a way that would minimize the loss of life, and it will be done to be accomplished in as swift a manner as possible, and for the purpose of getting rid of weapons of mass destruction and liberating the Iraqi people." GV: WIDESHOT POWELL BRIEFING REPORTERS
- Embargoed: 4th January 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES / LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM/ PARIS, FRANCE
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA5GS61L1BZNA89KX8NA2AILT6V
- Story Text: Following the assessment of two senior United Nations weapons inspectors that there was little new in Iraq's arms declaration, political leaders in the western world have described Iraq's report as in "material breach" of U.N.
resolutions.
Following the assessment of two senior United Nations weapons inspectors that there was little new in Iraq's arms declaration, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has declared Iraq's report is full of deceptions and omissions, and described it as in "material breach" of U.N. resolutions.
Powell made his comments after Hans Blix, the chief U.N.
weapons inspector, and Mohammed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there was little new in the 12,000-page document released by Iraq under a U.N.
Security Council resolution demanding that Baghdad end its weapons of mass destruction programme or face "serious consequences."
Briefing reporters at the U.S. State Department in Washington on Thursday (December 19), Powell argued that Iraq had flouted the letter and the spirit of U.N. resolution 1441 by failing to disclose fully details of its weapons programmes.
The U.S. use of the term "material breach" did not itself provide a trigger for war, but appeared to be a first U.S.
step toward persuading the Security Council to declare it in "material breach" and provide a legal justification for war.
Powell said "our path for the coming weeks" should include more study of the Iraqi declaration, intensified work by U.N.
inspectors inside Iraq as well as greater efforts by them to interview Iraqi arms scientists outside the country.
Among the omissions that Powell cited in the Iraqi document were its failure to address suspected stockpiles of anthrax, botulinum toxin, chemicals that are the building blocks for mustard gas, sarin gas and VX nerve gas as well as information about suspected Iraqi attempts to obtain aluminium tubes that could be used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapons program.
Powell said if Baghdad persisted in "lying" and "dissembling" there would be "no peaceful solution" to the stand-off over its weapons programs, although he suggested that any U.S. decision on whether to go to war was several weeks away.
"The important point I think is that what we heard from Dr. Blix and Dr. ElBaradei this morning and what I heard from other members of the [Security] Council who have spoken is that there is no question that Iraq continues its pattern of non-cooperation, its pattern of deception, its pattern of dissembling, its pattern of lying," Powell said.
"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," he warned.
Security Council resolution 1441, which gave Iraq a last chance to disarm and was adopted unanimously on November 8, has two requirements before the Council can declare a material breach. It said false statements or omissions in the Iraqi declaration had to be coupled with a failure to comply with inspections.
Despite indications from the White House that the Bush administration will be patient, letting U.N. arms inspections run their course in coming weeks, the U.S. military is forging ahead with a build-up that could have more than 100,000 troops in the Gulf region in January or February.
Asked what a possible war in Iraq might look like, Powell replied "We are doing everything we can to avoid war."
If such a war comes, Powell said "it will be done in a way that would minimize the loss of life, and it will be done to be accomplished in as swift a manner as possible, and for the purpose of getting rid of weapons of mass destruction and liberating the Iraqi people."
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that Hans Blix showed Iraq had failed to meet the obligations imposed on it by Security Council Resolution 1441 which requires Baghdad to make a complete disclosure of weapons of mass destruction.
"This now means that Iraq faces even greater responsibilities to comply fully with the inspectors and co-operate fully with the United Nations if military action is to be avoided," he said.
Noting that the U.N. weapons inspectors have to make a full report to the U.N. Security Council on January 27, Straw said: "War is not inevitable and war will not be inevitable, unless and until decisions are made by the international community, or members of the international community."
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Iraq's weapons declaration left some areas unexplained but added he was confident U.N. inspections would fill in the gaps.
"Iraq's weapons declaration left some areas unexplained and we trust in U.N. weapons inspector Mr Hans Blix and the director of the nuclear arms inspections to clear up these grey areas, to verify the information included in the report and to move towards the disarmament of Iraq".
Villepin also said Blix had noted that inspections had gone ahead under favourable conditions and reiterated France's position that any question of Iraq being in material breach of its U.N. promises would have to go before the U.N. Security Council.
"If there was any serious material breach, then you know the procedure as it was specified in the resolution 1441. It should be referred to the Security Council who will examine all the options including the resort to force. France has a clear position and will accept full responsibility", told reporters after his meeting with Netanyahu. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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