S P E C I A L:

Inspecting Iraq

U.S.: Iraq deal good, but needs 'clarification'

February 24, 1998
Web posted at: 3:14 p.m. EST (2014 GMT)

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N.-brokered weapons inspection agreement with Iraq is "good," but needs clarification and must be tested soon, the Clinton administration said on Tuesday after learning more about the deal which averted a U.S.-led attack.

Specifically, Washington is uncertain about the agreement's impact on Richard Butler, chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), which is in charge of dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Comments from U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson after the Security Council meeting 6 min. VXtreme video

The deal was arranged by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan during weekend talks in Baghdad. He briefed the 15-member Security Council immediately after returning to New York on Tuesday.

"We believe that this agreement is a step in the right direction," said Bill Richardson, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, after emerging from the briefing. "But we need some clarifications in some of the language in the agreement. I attempted to get some of those answers today. And we will attempt to get some of those answers in the next couple of days."

Annan and his wife, Nane, at a welcoming ceremony Tuesday morning at the United Nations

The chief U.S. concern, Richardson said, was "clarification on ... the importance of ... UNSCOM having the key role in any agreement."

Butler and his inspections efforts have been severely criticized in recent months by the Iraqi government.

Annan, in a concession to Iraq, agreed to appoint a new commissioner to work with Butler and the inspectors. In addition, the agreement calls for Annan to appoint other diplomats to join the UNSCOM personnel when they carry out their inspections.

U.S. officials say they would oppose any new inspection procedure that interferes with UNSCOM's inspections or calls its "integrity" into question. The publicly released text of the agreement is vague on these points.

The agreement with Iraq allows inspections of presidential palaces

Mindful of past broken promises by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Richardson also stressed the need for prompt testing, verification and enforcement of the agreement.

"We are pleased that this appears to be full, unconditional access to all sites, presidential and sensitive sites. But we want to see deeds and not words," Richardson said. 152 K / 14 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

"This is a good agreement ... but this agreement would not have happened had it not been for President Clinton's policy of diplomacy backed by force," Richardson said. 201 K / 17 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Correspondent Wolf Blitzer contributed to this report.

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