UN: Kofi Annan on U.S. Threats to Iraq-01-27-02

PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS
SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN
FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL UNITED NATIONS

Interview with Al'Jazeera
Doha, Qatar

27 January 2002

Excerpts

. . .

QUESTION: I have a question [inaudible] we talk about Iraq, you talk about American threats to Baghdad. Do you think that there is any reason for the United States to wage a new war against Iraq under such circumstances at such a time?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: Obviously, I'm not the US Government and I'm not privy to the discussions that take place in Washington. I'm not sure if any decision had been taken to hit Iraq yet. But I know that there have been discussions going on. I personally have indicated that I think it would be unwise to attack Iraq, at this stage. Besides I have no evidence linking Iraq to the terrorist attacks that took place on 11 September.

QUESTION: What about the sanctions on Iraq, that were imposed on Iraq over the last eleven years, maybe. And the Iraqi people are suffering. Do you think that these embargo and sanctions will remain forever?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: I hope not and the Security Council resolutions are clear as to what is demanded and required of Iraq and I believe that the moment Iraq has complied the sanctions should be lifted. As it stands now, this has not been fulfilled. The requirements are that the inspectors should be in Iraq and they should certify whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. And that certification has to come from the inspectors. And so we are in a catch 22 situation. The inspectors are out of Iraq and yet they are the ones who are supposed to certify the status of Iraqi disarmament for the Council to lift the sanctions. I am hearing rumors that the Iraqis may be open to cooperation with the Security Council but I have no further [unintelligible].

QUESTION: We have some kind of American statements from time to time accusing Iraq of developing mass destruction weapons which you spoke about now. Do you think that Iraq still has such a programme and developing such weapons?

SECRETARY-GENERAL: I have no means certifying what they do have or do not have. As I said, the inspectors have not been in and I know that for the first six years of the disarmament process the inspectors did make some progress on some of the weapon systems. Considerable progress had been made. But they have not completed their work.

. . .

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Search WMD profiles Iraqi entities of concern Iraq's suppliers UN documents Government documents Controlled items Perspectives	PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL UNITED NATIONS Interview with Al'Jazeera Doha, Qatar 27 January 2002 *Excerpts* . . . QUESTION: I have a question [inaudible] we talk about Iraq, you talk about American threats to Baghdad. Do you think that there is any reason for the United States to wage a new war against Iraq under such circumstances at such a time? SECRETARY-GENERAL: Obviously, I'm not the US Government and I'm not privy to the discussions that take place in Washington. I'm not sure if any decision had been taken to hit Iraq yet. But I know that there have been discussions going on. I personally have indicated that I think it would be unwise to attack Iraq, at this stage. Besides I have no evidence linking Iraq to the terrorist attacks that took place on 11 September. QUESTION: What about the sanctions on Iraq, that were imposed on Iraq over the last eleven years, maybe. And the Iraqi people are suffering. Do you think that these embargo and sanctions will remain forever? SECRETARY-GENERAL: I hope not and the Security Council resolutions are clear as to what is demanded and required of Iraq and I believe that the moment Iraq has complied the sanctions should be lifted. As it stands now, this has not been fulfilled. The requirements are that the inspectors should be in Iraq and they should certify whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. And that certification has to come from the inspectors. And so we are in a catch 22 situation. The inspectors are out of Iraq and yet they are the ones who are supposed to certify the status of Iraqi disarmament for the Council to lift the sanctions. I am hearing rumors that the Iraqis may be open to cooperation with the Security Council but I have no further [unintelligible]. QUESTION: We have some kind of American statements from time to time accusing Iraq of developing mass destruction weapons which you spoke about now. Do you think that Iraq still has such a programme and developing such weapons? SECRETARY-GENERAL: I have no means certifying what they do have or do not have. As I said, the inspectors have not been in and I know that for the first six years of the disarmament process the inspectors did make some progress on some of the weapon systems. Considerable progress had been made. But they have not completed their work. . . .