SPEECH BY JACK STRAW
UK FOREIGN SECRETARY

IN A PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ON IRAQ

UK FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

September 10, 2003

Mr Speaker,

I beg to move the amendment...

The role of the United Nations in Iraq has been at the heart of the issue of Iraq over the past dozen years. During that time Iraq achieved the unique distinction of having more mandatory Security Council Resolutions against it than any other country in the UN's history. Its record of defiance in response to the Security Council's demands put Saddam Hussein's regime in a category of its own.

It was this unenviable record which led this House to make the decision on 18 March - by a majority of 263 - that the only way to deal effectively with this defiance, and the threat the Security Council agreed it posed to international peace and security, was through military action.

This time last year we and our Security Council partners were involved in an intensive dialogue as to how we could enforce the writ of UN resolutions in Iraq. This dialogue became a negotiation which led on 8 November to the unanimous adoption of SCR 1441. It is worth reminding ourselves of the key elements of that resolution. It gave Iraq a 'final opportunity' to bring itself into compliance. It spelled out how it was to do so in the clearest possible terms. Iraq had to submit an 'accurate, full and complete declaration of all aspects' of its proscribed weapons programmes; and it had to co-operate 'immediately, unconditionally and actively' with UN inspectors. If Iraq failed to meet these twin standards, SCR 1441 warned that 'serious consequences' would follow. Diplomatic parlance is notoriously ambiguous, but this phrase was clearly understood to have only one meaning - military action.

I don't downplay the significance of the UN's subsequent failure to agree on the so-called second Resolution. I travelled to New York four times between January and March this year in an attempt to secure consensus on the need to enforce the terms of 1441. It is a great personal regret to me that Security Council members were unable to resolve their differences and agree that Iraq had failed to take its 'final opportunity' and stood in further material breach of UN resolutions.

Divisions were also apparent in this House in the momentous debate on 18 March. Some took the view that more time should be granted to the UN inspectors. The Government's view was that this would simply play into the hands of a regime which wanted time without end. The House endorsed the Government's position. By a majority of 263 votes we decided to enforce the 'serious consequences' the Security Council had promised.

Mr Speaker,

In the aftermath of coalition military intervention, the immediate challenge facing the international community is to bring peace and the rule of law to a country which has been brutalised for almost a quarter of a century. Our task is to help the Iraqi people rapidly build a nation from the ashes of Saddam's dictatorship and to do so with the United Nations.

In April, my RHF the Prime Minister and President Bush called on the UN to play a 'vital role' in the reconstruction of Iraq. It has since done so. The World Food Programme, with its Iraqi counterparts, got the public distribution system for food rations fully up and running in June. UNICEF and the World Health Organisation have made major contributions to the restoration of health services. This has included the successful containment of the cholera outbreak in the south of the country; maintaining supplies of essential medicines; and resuming child vaccination programmes. The UN Development Programme has been helping to restore electricity services. The Government, through DfID, is lending its support.

Mr Speaker,

The Government has also committed itself to establishing a broad mandate for the UN in Iraq. Thus far, this has been affirmed in two Security Council resolutions. The first, UNSCR 1483, was passed on 22 May. This establishes a framework for the UN's involvement in all significant aspects of Iraq's reconstruction, including in the political process. And it lifted most of the UN sanctions regime against Iraq which had been in place since the end of the Gulf War, and established new arrangements for Iraq's oil sales.

The second Resolution was passed on 14 August. SCR 1500 welcomed the first step taken by Iraq towards representative government with the formation of the Iraqi Governing Council. And it created the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq as recommended by the Secretary General.

Mr Speaker,

The growing influence of the UN was reflected in the Secretary General's report to the Security Council on 17 July. In it, he concluded that the 'UN can begin to assist the Iraqi people...in making a difference...and in helping to pave the way for the restoration of sovereignty to democratic Iraqi institutions.' The UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, had also welcomed the pace of developments. He referred to the formation of the Iraqi Governing Council on 13 July as a 'defining moment' for Iraq 'moving it back where it rightfully belongs: at peace with itself and as a full participant in the community of nations.'

Mr de Mello and his team were involved in the full range of reconstruction tasks set out in SCR 1483 until the terrorist attack on the UN's headquarters on 19 August.

Mr Speaker,

The UN and other international staff who died in that attack were each working to bring a peaceful, prosperous future to Iraq. The Security Council rightly paid tribute and expressed its deepest admiration for all the UN staff who lost their lives or were injured. In my statement to the House on Monday I also paid special tribute to the British victim, Fiona Watson, a former senior researcher in this House.

The loss to the United Nations is incalculable. Sergio Vieira de Mello was an outstanding diplomat and international public servant. When I met him in Baghdad in July, I was struck by his commitment to helping the Iraqi people build a peaceful and prosperous future. His death has robbed the world of a peacemaker, and the cause of human rights has lost one of its finest advocates.

Neither should we underestimate the scale of the loss to the Iraqi people. Mr Vieira de Mello led the birth of a nation in East Timor. He would have played an integral role in the birth of a new Iraq.

The fact that the terrorists decided to target the Secretary General's Special Representative speaks volumes for the impact the UN was having. Through its involvement in the political process and its role in reconstruction, the UN had been helping to establish the conditions for an orderly transition in Iraq. Its personnel became the target of those who would seek to plunge the country into chaos.

Mr Speaker,

In the wake of the tragic events of 19 August, the United Nations has had to scale back its presence in Iraq. I have since spoken to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and assured him that we are ready to offer further advice and assistance to help guarantee the security of UN facilities and personnel.

The attack on the UN headquarters was a terrible reminder that all nations share a common interest in ensuring a successful transition in Iraq; and none in allowing the terrorists to succeed. It's for that reason that over the last few weeks I have been working closely with Secretary Powell, and my colleagues within the EU and elsewhere to strengthen the UN's mandate and the joint efforts of the international community in Iraq. In my statement to the House on Monday, I told the House that a draft Resolution was under discussion at the Security Council at the end of last week. Let me set out the key elements.

The draft reaffirms the UN's support for the work of the Iraqi Governing Council. It calls on the Council to submit a timetable and programme for the drafting of a new constitution for Iraq and for the holding of democratic elections. This would be provided in co-operation with both the CPA and, importantly, the United Nations. Such a timeline would reinforce to the Iraqi people that we are determined to continue on the path towards a democratic government run by Iraqis for Iraqis. And it would give the international community more certainty about the direction being pursued in Iraq.

The text highlights the UN's role in supporting the constitutional process in Iraq, drawing on its extensive expertise in this area. The aim is for the UN to be heavily involved in preparing the electoral register and other electoral processes.

The draft proposes a UN-mandated multinational force under existing unified command arrangements; this should facilitate the provision of troops by other countries.

Finally, the text refers to next month's conference in Madrid which will be attended by a number of potential donor countries and the International Financial Institutions, and calls upon UN Member States to help the Iraqi people by providing resources for rehabilitation and reconstruction.

In summary, if a Resolution along the line of this draft is adopted it will send a strong signal to those forces in Iraq that would deny the Iraqi people a peaceful and prosperous future. It would tell them that the international community's commitment to the establishment of representative government in Iraq was irrevocable; and that their efforts to block Iraq's return to the international community of nations were doomed to failure. The build up to military action in March was sadly characterised by serious divisions in the international community. In contrast, the period since the fall of Saddam has been characterised by a growing consensus in the international community that whatever our previous disagreements we all have a common interest in Iraq's future stability and in the role of the UN in achieving that.

Constructive discussions on this draft have been held for ten days in New York. This Saturday, at the invitation of Kofi Annan, I shall be travelling to Geneva for a meeting with him and my fellow Ministers from the Permanent Five Members of the Security Council. We will discuss both the draft and wider issues of the UN's involvement in Iraq.

Mr Speaker,

No country has made a greater effort than Britain to ensuring that the United Nations is the central means by which the international community deals with both the threat from Saddam Hussein's regime and the country's rehabilitation. We have been a co-sponsor of the three UN resolutions in respect of Iraq which have been passed in the past 10 months. In the coming days, we will be striving to secure a fourth.

The draft resolution under discussion in New York will cement the UN's presence in Iraq; it will enhance security - if adopted, more countries will join the 25 nations which have already committed troops; and it will bring the day when the Iraqi people can take full control of their own destiny one step closer. I urge the House to reject the motion and accept the amendment.