ARABS-UN - Apr. 13 - Security Council Approves Weapons Inspection.

The UN Security Council unanimously approves an organisational plan for the new weapons inspection agency for Iraq. The council president, Robert Fowler of Canada, makes the official announcement after the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, briefed ambassadors for the 1st time on his plan and answered their questions. (Their quick approval of the plan signals that the Security Council, which has been deeply divided over Iraq, is united in its initial support for Blix, the 73-year-old former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency who was chosen to head the new UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission.) After the meeting, Blix says: "I'm quite pleased with the outcome. We have worked kind of hard on this operational plan". Blix says he would now go ahead and start interviewing for a "core staff" of 40-plus full-time professionals in New York, as well as part-time experts who can be called on for specific missions. He says all staff will attend a 6-week UN training course in the summer.

(The Security Council created the new commission, known as UNMOVIC, in December to replace the UN Special Commission, which was stung by allegations that UN inspectors spied on Iraq on behalf of the US. The Special Commission, known as UNSCOM, had been working with the IAEA since 1991 to oversee the destruction of Iraq's biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and missile programs. Weapons inspectors from both agencies left Iraq in Dec. 1998 ahead of US and British airstrikes, launched to punish Iraq for failing to co-operate with the inspectors - and Baghdad barred UNSCOM from returning. Top Iraqi officials have said Baghdad would not accept new UN weapons inspectors, but others have left open the possibility for compromise. According to Blix's plan, UNMOVIC inspectors will come from all around the world and be paid for out of the UN budget - not volunteered by, or under the orders of, member governments as was the case with UNSCOM.)

When asked about the safeguards in Blix's plan to prevent intelligence from filtering back to individual countries, US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke says: "I support what he said entirely". Holbrooke says Iraq should now co-operate fully and allow Blix's inspectors to do their job. He says: "This charade from Baghdad really has gone on much too long". Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov says Moscow signed off on the organisational plan even though it had some lingering questions that would have to be answered. (Primarily, Russia wants to ensure that former UNSCOM employees who "abused their positions", wouldn't work for the new agency - a reference to the espionage allegations.) Lavrov says there's "a good chance" Iraq would co-operate with the new agency if the US and Britain stopped their airstrikes in the no-fly zones and the US ended its efforts to undermine the Iraqi government. He says: "But if unilateral [actions] continue, then I don't believe the atmospherics would be right for any hope for success". British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock says the US and Britain were enforcing the no-fly zones as a way to protect minorities in northern and southern Iraq. He adds the US and British planes never initiated attacks but rather responded to Iraqi fire.