IRAQ: CHIEF UN WEAPONS INSPECTOR BUTLER ARRIVES FOR TALKS UPDATE скачать в хорошем качестве

IRAQ: CHIEF UN WEAPONS INSPECTOR BUTLER ARRIVES FOR TALKS UPDATE

(22 Mar 1998) Arabic/Eng/Nat Chief U-N weapons inspector, Richard Butler, arrived in Baghdad on Sunday for talks he hopes will lead to the first inspections of Iraq's presidential palaces. Butler flew in from Bahrain to discuss searches for lethal weapons following an agreement last month between Iraq and U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He said he was optimistic of increased cooperation with the Iraqi authorities. Arriving in Baghdad on Sunday, chief U-N weapons inspector Richard Butler, hoped to have improved talks with Iraqi leaders. When Butler visited the Iraqi capital last month, negotiations over weapons inspections of Iraq's sensitive sites had reached deadlock. At the core of the dispute that nearly began another Gulf War: the demand for the U-N to search eight presidential sites for weapons of mass destruction. Since then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has brokered an agreement giving U-N experts unhindered access to these sites. Once Butler certifies that Iraq has destroyed its long-range missiles and chemical weapons, the Security Council will lift sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Butler says Kofi Annan's deal has helped to create a new level of cooperation between the U-N and Saddam Hussein. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I have a sense of a new spirit now prevailing in our relationship. A degree of cooperation with Iraq has been showing with the Commission in all fields, in inspection and technical evaluation meetings, is very high and very welcome. My earnest hope is that this new spirit is not just the beginning, but part of a process that will now continue. Under which if Iraq is prepared to provide us the outstanding material and information that we need to be able to verify what they claim is the absence of weapons of mass destruction in this country, that we will move with despatch to verify those last bits of remaining bits of information. Hopefully enabling us to go to the security council at an early date to report that disarmament is over. That under paragraph 22 of the relevant security council resolution therefore sanctions could be lifted. We could then settle down to the remaining task which is longer term monitoring of relevant activities in this country. SUPER CAPTION: Richard Butler Chief United Nations Weapons Inspector Butler will stay in Baghdad for five days to discuss the procedure for inspecting the sites with Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz. The presidential palaces occupy 31.5 square kilometers (12.6 square miles) and comprise 1,058 buildings. But despite the talk of new cooperation, tensions -- especially those between the U-S and Baghdad -- remain. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The point is they've made a claim that says they have no more of these weapons. We're arms controls professionals. We can't just accept that on the basis of their say so. We're not unduly suspicious, but we are scientific. If someone says this is what I say happened to a given warhead or a given missile or whatever and especially if they're saying we destroyed it, we don't have it any more. In principle we say that's great, because that's what we want to be the case. But we can't just take it on your say so." SUPER CAPTION: Richard Butler Chief United Nations Weapons Inspector Under the deal brokered by Annan, Butler's inspectors will be accompanied by U-N diplomats coordinated by Jayantha Dhanapala, a former Sri Lankan ambassador to the United Nations. The United States and Britain are keeping military forces in the Gulf to ensure Saddam complies with the U-N deal. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...