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S P E C I A L: The Standoff with Iraq Geneva talks raise hopes for end to Iraq crisis
November 19, 1997
Web posted at: 8:43 a.m. EST (1343 GMT)UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council was meeting Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in the ongoing standoff with Iraq. The meeting was arranged after Moscow said Iraq had agreed to a Russian plan aimed at resolving the crisis over U.S. weapons inspectors.
Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said several council members at Wednesday's closed-door meeting were expected to urge U.N. weapons team chief Richard Butler to send the non-American inspectors back to Iraq quickly because the pullout has effectively halted the on-ground monitoring operation.
"We have worked out a certain program which we believe could avoid an armed confrontation and eventually eliminate this crisis," Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov said Tuesday. "This program is conditioned on the fact that Iraq comply with the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council."
The announcement came after visiting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz had several meetings with Primakov and conferred with Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
Primakov did not reveal any details of the Russian plan, but U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright cut short a visit to India and was traveling to Geneva for a meeting with Primakov and the British and French foreign ministers.
The meeting -- scheduled for 2 a.m. Thursday -- was intended to examine the details of the Russian proposal and what exactly Aziz had agreed to during his talks in Moscow.
Primakov said he "expected a lot" from the meeting. A French government spokeswoman said that goal of talks would be to reach a consensus on precisely what Iraq must do to end the international sanctions.
U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said the crisis would be over if Baghdad had agreed to a resumption of U.N. weapons inspections and compliance with all U.N. Gulf War resolutions.
The standoff began October 29 when Iraq announced it planned to expel U.S. weapons inspectors working for the United Nations.
The expulsions took place last Thursday, when six Americans were kicked out. The U.N. withdrew its remaining 68 inspectors in protest. The Iraqi action was condemned by the U.N. Security Council and the United States held out the threat of a possible military strike in retaliation.
Certification that Iraq has destroyed all its nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic arms is required before punishing sanctions imposed after Baghdad invaded Kuwait in 1990 can be lifted.
Correspondents Steve Hurst and Betsy Aaron contributed to this report.
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