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Russia Denounces External Pressure

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Agence France Press
December 10, 2002

Russian on Tuesday denounced "external pressure" on UN weapons inspectors in Iraq and warned the United States against using the standoff over Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction as a pretext to overthrow the regime in Baghdad.


In comments clearly targeted at Washington's regularly voiced scepticism regarding the weapons inspections and the US military build-up in the Gulf, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that "the external pressure on the inspectors is unacceptable."

Speaking after talks with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, Ivanov said that "only the conclusions of the inspectors will be considered by the UN Security Council" in determining the course of action to be taken subsequently.

Iraq's declaration on its weapons programmes "is in line with (UN Security Council) resolution 1441 and was provided in time," Ivanov noted.

The Security Council "has agreed that a copy of the declaration be handed to the five permanent members (of the Council), but that does not call into doubt the competence of the inspectors," he said.

Mussa said he agreed with the Russian viewpoint that "a unilateral resort to force must be avoided at all costs and a political settlement obtained."

Earlier, a foreign ministry spokesman warned that the UN weapons inspection campaign "cannot be replaced by efforts to change the incumbent Iraqi regime."

The UN Charter cannot issue such a mandate, "and an attempt to secure the UN's blessing to remove the legitimate Iraqi leadership will damage the authority of this organisation," Alexander Yakovenko said, as quoted by the Interfax news agency.

Under resolution 1441 approved last month, Iraq has been ordered to comply fully with international weapons inspectors checking that it has no weapons of mass destruction or face possible military action.

At the weekend Baghdad delivered a 12,000-page report on its weapons programmes ahead of a UN-imposed December 8 deadline.

Washington has threatened possible unilateral action if it considers Iraq to be in breach of UN resolutions.

The US administration has been reported as being divided among those who will settle for seeing Iraq fully disarmed and those who advocate "regime change" — the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein and his regime even if he satisfies UN inspectors that he has no such arms.

Russia, along with its UN Security Council partners China and France, has argued strongly that Baghdad must be given a chance to prove its good faith.

The United States and Britain have voiced scepticism over the work of the weapons inspectors and are mobilising forces in the Gulf region for a possible attack on Iraq.

Russia, a longtime ally of Iraq with extensive oil interests there, said on Monday that Iraq's timely presentation of its weapons declaration strengthens the prospects for a political settlement, and stressed that the declaration could not be used as a pretext for unilateral military action.

Yakovenko underscored the importance of the successful continuation of the inspection and monitoring mission in Iraq and the need for Baghdad to respond constructively.

Yakovenko described Iraq's declaration of its weapons programme, copies of which have arrived in New York and circulated to US, British and French diplomats, as "sensitive" and warned that any leak of its contents could prove to be of "grave consequences for the observance of non-proliferation."

Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov, quoted by Interfax, said he expected Russia to receive a copy of the declaration later in the day.


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FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.