Challenges to UN decisions scrutinized; Baghdad sites attacked after assassination plot.

Baghdad sites attacked after assassination plot

Iraq remained unwilling to comply with its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions adopted after the Persian Gulf war - a "most unwelcome

trend" - the Executive Chairman of the UN Special Commission on Iraqi disarmament (UNSCOM) reported on 21 June. Iraq's actions, he said, amounted to a "de facto rejection" of binding UN decisions.

And on 26 June, the United States - in retaliation for a reported assassination attempt against former President George Bush during a visit to Kuwait in April - launched a missile attack against Iraqi Intelligence Service headquarters in Baghdad.

The United States told the Security Council that its military action was in "self-defence", given the murder attempt against Mr. Bush.

Despite these worrisome situations, there were some positive developments during the three-month period between April and the end of June 1993, including the final demarcation by the UN of the border between Iraq and Kuwait, and the complete destruction of some declared stocks of chemical weapons precursor agents by UNSCOM.

The mandate of the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) was extended for another six months, until 30 September.

Retaliation for

|murder attempt'

In Council debate the day after its attack on Baghdad, the United States, which had requested the meeting, said it regretted the loss of civilian lives resulting from the attack, but its unilateral response had been proportionate.

The Council was informed that on 14 April, when former President Bush began a three-day visit to Kuwait City, Kuwaiti authorities had thwarted a terrorist plot, seizing a powerful car bomb and arresting 16 suspects. The ringleaders were two Iraqi nationals.

The United States said it conducted a meticulous investigation, concluding that Iraq had planned, equipped and launched the terrorist operation that threatened the life of a former American President.

All nations should redouble their resolve to ensure that Baghdad's criminal regime was "never again able to disturb the peace", it said.

Iraq called the attack "just one more page in the history of the United States policy of aggression" against Iraq, a "policy aimed at gaining control of the region and subjugating it to its will". The assassination attempt story had been fabricated by the Kuwaiti Government, it claimed.

Iraq balks

In the face of what was called persistent Iraqi refusal to assist the Special Commission in its work, Executive Chairman Rolf Ekeus on 21 June made a generally negative report (S/25977) on the situation to the Council.

Despite efforts to establish ongoing monitoring and verification of the disarmament process, through installation of surveillance cameras, he said, basic conditions for "full-scale implementation" of Commission plans had "not yet been met".

The Commission wanted to expand its activities, he said, in line with Council directives, from inspection and survey through destruction to ongoing monitoring and verification.

Another account (S/25960) of Iraq's "attitude on certain aspects" of implementation of Council resolution 687 (1991) - the historic, complex cease-fire resolution setting out the conditions under which coalition forces agreed to end its attacks against Iraq - had been presented to the Council by Mr. Ekeus on 16 June.

An issue of principle

Iraq, he said, had "sought to make an issue of principle" out of the installation of monitoring cameras. That fitted in with its general pattern of statements and behaviour. While "not explicitly rejecting the monitoring provisions", but rather expressing a "willingness to renegotiate their terms", Iraq had, in effect, prevented the initiation of implementing the monitoring and verification plans, he added.

The Commission also insisted on further destruction of the chemical production equipment and precursor chemicals, because both had been acquired for Iraq's chemical weapons programme and could "easily and rapidly be reconverted from permitted to prohibited purposes".

The Council on 18 June had warned Iraq of the "serious consequences" of its continued refusal to allow the installation of UNSCOM monitoring devices at rocket test sites and to transport chemical weapons-related equipment to a designated site for destruction.

It demanded that Iraq "cease its attempts to restrict the Commission's inspection rights and operational capabilities" (S/25970).

Iraq's action was a "a material and unacceptable breach" of resolution 687, Council members stated. The agreement on facilities, privileges and immunities between Iraq and the UN, as well as Council resolutions 707 (1991) and 715 (1991), "clearly establish Iraq's obligation to accept the presence of monitoring equipment" designated by UNSCOM.

Iraq's "spurious complaints and allegations" about UNSCOM's motives and activities demonstrated Iraq's "unwillingness both to comply with its obligations and to facilitate the task of the Commission", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali reported to the Council (S/25620) on 19 April.

Iraq, he said, wanted the verification plan to proceed on the basis of its own interpretation of its obligations, rather than on the basis of Council resolutions, he stressed. Iraq's reluctance meant the Commission had to be "more extensive and intrusive" in its efforts to fulfil its mandate.

Inspections

The destruction of Iraq's declared stockpiles of the nerve agent sarin was completed on 22 April by the UNSCOM Chemical Destruction Group, based at the Muthanna State Establishment. It was achieved with the destruction of the last of Iraq's chemical warheads for the Al-Hussein missile - a derivative of the SCUD missile - after Iraqi authorities had been instructed to do so by the tenth chemical weapons inspection team, which had visited Iraq from 9 to 16 April.

On 29 April, the Group supervised the destruction of 14,600 litres of Iraq's remaining declared stocks of the chemical weapons precursor chemical - methylphosphonyl difluoride (DF) for the nerve agent sarin.

The Group on 31 May and 1 June completed destruction of Iraq's bulk stocks of other precursor chemicals - phosphorous oxychloride, thionyl chloride and phosphorous trichloride.

Ballistic missile

investigation

Another group - UNSCOM's second interim monitoring team investigating Iraq's ballistic missile programme - on 17 May completed a 52-day mission.

Although it had provided information that improved UNSCOM's understanding of Iraq's past weapons programme and of its technology baseline, Iraq's refusal to acknowledge its obligations under Security Council resolutions 707 and 715 was delaying UNSCOM's work, the Special Commission stated on 21 May.

Discrepancies reported

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also complained about Iraq's "renewed resistance" to providing clarification as to nuclear material declarations. In its third report (S/25621) of 8 April, the Agency stated it was not sure whether all such materials had been declared and presented to the IAEA. That, in turn, prevented long-term monitoring of Iraqi activities.

The Agency's nineteenth inspection (30 April-7 May), devoted to the spring collection of surface water samples, was made at 33 sites, 15 along the Tigris-Euphrates watershed. While concluding that no proscribed activities or undeclared relevant equipment had been discovered, it decided to continue monitoring inspections of some previously undeclared machine tools.

In its fourth semi-annual report (S/25983), transmitted to the Council on 21 June, the IAEA stated that as of 17 June it had carried out, with UNSCOM, 19 missions in Iraq, inspecting 75 sites.

That had resulted in the "gradual disclosure of a broadly-based nuclear programme aimed at the production of enriched uranium and at the development of nuclear weapon capabilities", it was stated. However, discrepancies between the Iraqi declarations and IAEA findings continued to exist, the report stated.

Sanctions maintained

Sanctions imposed against Iraq were continued after the Security Council on 24 May stated (S/25830) that there was "no agreement" that the necessary conditions existed for their modification. The Council reviews the sanctions against Iraq every 60 days.

Meanwhile, Iraq claimed that UNSCOM's "inaccurate" accusations had resulted in a "distorted" picture of Iraq. UNSCOM, it said, had been "accusatory and not objective". Iraq did not reject in principle future verification and monitoring requirements.

However, it contested the decisions and recommendations of the Sanctions Committee which, it believed, was being "used as a cover" by States whose practices were "but an expression of political positions hostile to Iraq".

Boundary demarcated

The Council demanded on 27 May that Iraq and Kuwait "respect the inviolability of the international boundary", as demarcated by the UN Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission, and the right to navigational access. Unanimously adopting resolution 833 (1993), the Council reaffirmed its decision to guarantee the inviolability of that boundary and to take all measures to that end.

The Council also expressed its appreciation to the Commission for its work - historic in that it is the first time the UN has drawn a border between two Member States.

Established in May 1991, the Commission was mandated to demarcate the international boundary between Iraq and Kuwait, set out in "Agreed Minutes" signed in 1963 by the two countries. The Commission had five members: three independent experts appointed by the Secretary-General; and one representative each of Iraq and Kuwait. During the first five sessions, all members participated. Iraq did not attend subsequent sessions, but was sent all relevant documents.

At its final session (17-20 May, New York), the Commission approved a report containing the geographic coordinates of the boundary and the area's map.

The boundary had been demarcated "in the context of maintaining international peace and security", the Secretary-General told the Commission on 20 May. "Law, technology, diplomacy and security have come together in a unique United Nations endeavour", he stated. "All those involved can take great pride in this outcome."

Kuwait said it would honour and be bound by resolution 833 and all other relevant Council resolutions.

Iraq on 6 June challenged (S/25905) the work of the Boundary Commission, stating that the Council had "no right" to impose a boundary delimitation on a Member State, and "imposition" of the boundary in the Khawe Abdullah area was a "grave threat to Iraq's right to enjoy freedom of access to the sea".

Iraq's message was noted "with particular concern" by the Council on 28 June, when it recalled (S/26006) that the Boundary Commission had not reallocated territory between Kuwait and Iraq, but had "simply carried out the technical tasks necessary to demarcate the precise coordinates" agreed to by both sides in 1963.

Oil-talks

High-level talks between the UN and Iraq on application of Council resolutions 706 (1991) and 712 (1991) - which authorize $1.6 billion oil sales by Iraq as exceptions to economic sanctions - began in New York on 7 July The sum to be placed in a UN escrow account would pay for inter alia humanitarian relief and compensation to victims of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Iraq on 30 September 1992 told the General Assembly it wanted a net return of "no less than $4 billion for a period of six months".

In response to Iraq's refusal to cooperate in the implementation of resolutions 706 and 712, the Security Council, in adopting resolution 778 (1992) on 2 October, asked Member States to transfer to the UN escrow account proceeds from the sales of Iraqi oil and petroleum products and voluntary contributions.

Environmental damage

in Gulf assessed

A report on the environmental effects of the Iraq-Kuwait conflict was published by the UN Environment Programme in May. The findings, obtained by the United States research vessel "Mount Mitchell" during its 100-day cruise in the Gulf in February 1992, are to provide a basis for the rehabilitation of the marine and coastal environment in the affected areas and for dealing with future large spills throughout the world.

The report stated that decomposition of oil in the sea was found to be "relatively fast". Generally, coral reefs were in good condition, with some "signs of stress". Commercially-caught fishery products did not constitute a health hazard to the average consumer.

Smoke plume from burning oil wells had "no impact on global climate" and local weather was not "consistently affected". The possible long-term effects on human health were "still uncertain".