Ivanov

UNITED NATIONS, November 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) –  Russia said Friday, November 1, the U.N. Security Council was nearing agreement on terms for resuming weapons inspections in Iraq, as U.N. sources announced that inspectors will travel to Cyprus this weekend to set up a staging post for their operations in Iraq.

In one of the most positive statements by Russian officials on the negotiations at the United Nations in New York over the past week, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Friday "we have come close on a whole range of issues."

"We are trying to reach a resolution that, in case there is a problem with the work of inspectors, in case Iraq breaches (the inspections program) ... that this question is returned to the Security Council" so it can debate the use of force, he said in televised remarks.

"And only the Security Council, after carefully examining this question, can make a decision," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted him as saying.

"That is how we should act -- in accordance to U.N. statutes, which among other things, foresee the use of force."

His comments, made during a Moscow ceremony marking the 200th anniversary of the Russian foreign ministry, came as Washington said it expected to see a tough new U.N. resolution approved within the coming week.

Some "serious differences" over the proposed U.N. resolution still remain, said Ivanov.

Moscow's differences with Washington and London remain over "the possible consequences for Iraq in case U.N. weapons inspectors come across problems during their inspections," said Ivanov.

Russia is one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council that wield veto power, along with the United States, Britain, France and China.

Ivanov stressed Russia "is categorically against any (U.N. resolution) that allow some to unilaterally, and automatically, use force."

A U.S. draft would order Iraq to let inspections begin within 45 days and give the inspectors wider powers than before, but Russian officials have said these were "unrealistic".

The U.S. proposal would also declare Iraq "in material breach" of its obligations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 687, defining the terms of the February 1991 ceasefire which ended the Gulf War.

But France and Russia are opposing wording containing "hidden triggers" for the automatic use of military force against Iraq.

And they want it clear that "serious consequences" would follow future violations of Iraq's obligations and not punish any past breaches.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke Thursday, October 31, with his French and Russian counterparts, Ivanov and Dominique de Villepin, in an effort to produce a compromise.

France and Russia have adopted a common stance, arguing the U.N. resolution should not contain an automatic threat of force.

This, they say, should only be ratified in a later resolution if Iraq blocks international weapons inspections.

Meanwhile China still refuses to specify what action it supports beyond the return of U.N. weapons inspectors, although most diplomatic analysts agree it will abstain from voting.

A British official said Thursday a compromise warning Iraq of "serious consequences" -- diplomatic language for military action -- could be ready for adoption by the U.N. next week.

Both the United States and Britain -- but not Russia -- accuse Iraq of developing chemical and biological weapons and seeking to obtain nuclear weapons as well.

Iraq denies the charges.

The Cyprus base, where inspectors can group to receive instructions and U.N. identity cards before flying to Iraq, will be in the southern port city of Larnaca, site of Cyprus international airport.

"It will be a fairly small field office," the source said.

Most of the inspectors charged with supervising the elimination of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction will be on short-term contracts to the U.N. and have to take leave from jobs elsewhere.

An administrative officer and a technical adviser to Hans Blix, chairman of the United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), will go to Cyprus to set up the office, the source said.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote late next week on a U.S. draft resolution to strengthen the mandate of UNMOVIC and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to define a timeline for resuming inspections.

Blix has said an advance team could arrive in Baghdad between seven and 10 days after a resolution is adopted.

That schedule could be delayed by a week if the United States insists on retaining language in the draft which would give Iraq seven days to accept the terms of the resolution.

The job of the advance team, which would probably include Blix and IAEA director general Mohammed ElBarade, would be to reopen and re-equip offices used in Iraq by the former inspectorate, the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM).

The government of Cyprus gave its approval to set up the staging post on October 23.

Larnaca is about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Baghdad, approximately the same distance as Bahrain, where UNSCOM had its base.

 

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