QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY
IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER NAJI SABRI
TO U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN

March 7, 2002

Accompanying Note
from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan

19 March 2002

His Excellency
Mr. Ole Peter Kolby
President of the Security Council
New York

Dear Mr. President,

I have the honour to convey to the Security Council a number of questions handed to me by the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Mr. Naji Sabri, on 7 March 2002. As I indicated in my briefing to the Council on 8 March, the questions have been rearranged and clustered for the sake of clarity and expediency. Many of the questions lie within the competence of the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, Dr. Hans Blix, in coordination with the IAEA, to answer. However, a number of the questions are addressed to the Security Council.

I should be grateful if you would bring the attached list of questions to the attention of the members of the Security Council. As it is anticipated that the next round of dialogue with the Iraqi delegation will be held during the second half of April, I would appreciate receiving any response the Security Council may wish to provide by 10 April at the latest.

Please accept, Mr. President, the assurance of my highest consideration.

Signed,
Kofi A. Annan

Clustered Questions

I. Disarmament/Inspection Issues

Some members of the Security Council state that disarmament talks, as described in Section C of resolution 687, have not been completed. Iraq is not against certainty as a principle.

• What has been achieved in seven years and seven months of Iraq's cooperation with UNSCOM and the IAEA in the disarmament area?

• How can UNMOVIC start its activities based on what has been accomplished?

• What are the disarmament tasks and the remaining questions to be clarified through inspections, how much time is needed to accomplish these inspections?
  

• How long would it take UNMOVIC to reach a degree of certainty that Iraq has retained no WMD and to present a report to the Security Council appropriately?

• What kind of inspections is UNMOVIC planning to conduct?

• Would inspections be conducted with the necessary respect of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq and in accordance with the relevant international conventions?

• What are the Terms of Reference for UNMOVIC, limits of powers of its Executive Chairman and the College of Commissioners?

• Would the Secretary-General supervise the work of UNMOVIC?

• Does UNMOVIC's composition include individuals who have been members of UNSCOM involved in spying activities?

• What are the guarantees that UNMOVIC would not use the same inspection formula which led to the bombing of Iraq in 1998?

• How could US and UK inspectors fulfill a neutral international mandate?

II. Issues relevant to relations between Iraq and the Security Council

Iraq insists on the principle of concurrence in the implementation of the corresponding obligations in order to build confidence between Iraq and the Security Council.

• Do threats to invade Iraq and to change the national government by force violate Security Council resolutions, rules of international law, Charter of the United Nations and Iraq's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity?

• Could one permanent member of the Security Council have a right to its own interpretation of resolutions in order to take unilateral decisions regarding Iraq?

• Is it possible to normalize relations between the Security Council and Iraq under the circumstances when calls are made for invading Iraq and overthrowing its national government by force?

• Could the elimination of the no-fly zones be guaranteed?

• What are the views of the Security Council on declarations that the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq would not be lifted in accordance with relevant resolutions as long as the current national government remains in place?

• Has the Security Council implemented its obligations pursuant to resolution 687 (1991) regarding the lifting of the sanctions, respect of Iraq's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and the establishment in the Middle East of a zone free from weapons of mass detruction (paragraph 14)?

III. Iraq's requests for compensation and right of self-defense

• Would Iraq be compensated for the destruction of its economic, educational and other infrastructure caused by the embargo and violations of Iraq's sovereignty?

• Is there an intention to dispatch a team of experts to Iraq to assess the cost of reconstruction in order to submit a report, which would help the Security Council to consider the issue of compensation?

• Does the Security Council agree with Iraq's legitimate right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter and whether this right allows Iraq to acquire conventional defensive weapons?