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Annan: Iraqi violation could lead to military strike

Annan
VXtreme Video Kofi Annan talks on CNN's Larry King Live Part 1     Part 2 Part 3     Part 4

In this story:

• U.S. warns of consequences
• Doing 'business' with Saddam Hussein
• Iraq says forces should withdraw

March 4, 1998
Web posted at: 12:00 a.m. EST (0500 GMT)

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday the United States would probably have an easier time getting Security Council approval for a military strike against Iraq if Baghdad breaks the U.N. agreement signed last week with Annan.

Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live," Annan said the Security Council would prefer there be deliberations in the council before any action is taken, should Iraq break the agreement.

But U.S. President Bill Clinton said earlier Tuesday that Iraq should be "under no illusion" what the wording of a resolution passed by the Security Council Monday supporting the deal means.

"The meaning of 'severest consequences' is clear," Clinton said at the end of an event promoting tougher drunken-driving laws. "It provides authority to act if Iraq does not turn the commitment it has now made into compliance."

Iraq agreed with Annan to give U.N. arms inspectors access to all suspected weapons sites, including sensitive presidential sites. In return, Annan agreed to send diplomatic observers with the inspectors to the presidential sites and to ensure that the inspectors act, as he told King, "with some sensitivity."

Iraq also pledged to allow inspectors to visit all other sites they believed necessary to determine if Baghdad still holds banned weapons.

In passing a resolution supporting the agreement Monday, the Security Council approved wording warning Iraq of the "severest consequences" if it fails to comply with the agreement.

U.S. warns of consequences

U.N. Security Council

Most members of the Security Council -- with the exception of the United States and Britain -- seem content to wait and see if the agreement works. They say that only the Security Council has the authority to determine whether Iraq has breached the agreement.

The U.S. and Britain have a sizable military force in the Persian Gulf, and Clinton and other U.S. officials continued Tuesday to warn Iraq that it must comply. They also maintained the United States' right to take military action if it does not.

"Iraq must fulfill without obstruction or delay its commitment to open all of the nation to the international weapons inspectors -- any place, any time, without any conditions, deadlines or excuses," Clinton said.

"This gives us the green light to approach our policy of diplomacy and force, and it shows to the world once again that the onus of complying with this agreement is with Iraq," said Bill Richardson, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Annan, however, downplayed the Americans' unforgiving tone.

"Well, I don't know on what basis they are saying that, so I cannot say they are wrong," Annan told King. "They probably know something I don't know."

Annan said, "The Security Council would prefer that they discuss it first. But I think, my own sense is, that given what we've gone through, if Iraq were to break the agreement, perhaps it would be easier for the U.S. to get a consensus in the council next time around."

Doing 'business' with Saddam Hussein

Annan and Hussein met for three hours in february

Annan said he is hopeful that the Iraqis will keep their word, and his optimism is based on his three-hour meeting with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"I am hopeful because this is the first time Saddam himself has negotiated an agreement," Annan said. "And the next day, after we signed the agreement, I saw the difference in the body language of the men around him when word got around that he was interested, he wanted it done. And I hope this will be sustained."

As for the criticism from some U.S. congressmen for "doing business" with Hussein, Annan was unapologetic.

"It is a fact," he said. "I did business with him. I did business with him in order to save lives. I did business with him in order to avoid a war. And if I say I can do business with him, it is an objective fact, so I don't know what they are worried about."

Iraq says forces should withdraw

In other developments:

A statement read on Iraqi TV Tuesday said the United States and Britain should "withdraw their forces so the people of the Arab and Islamic region can be rid of their aggressive threats."

The statement said the United States and Britain "failed utterly" to get a mandate to use military force against Iraq, and that the two governments "are called upon ... to look with wisdom and flexibility at their relations, interests and reputations in the Arab and Islamic world."

It also quotes Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz as saying, "We have signed an agreement with the U.N. secretary-general. We are committed to the items of the agreement."

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said the United States this month will begin vaccinating the 36,000 troops it has in the Persian Gulf for anthrax.

Cohen said the vaccinations -- a series of six shots over 18 months followed by annual booster shots -- come at the request of Marine Corps. Gen. Anthony Zinni, the commander of U.S. troops in the region.

Iraq is believed to have developed anthrax -- a lethal disease that is cheap and easy to produce -- to be delivered by artillery shells or sprayed from aircraft.

The Defense Department said that both Cohen and Army Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had begun taking the shots themselves.

In London, British Defense Minister George Robertson had an anthrax vaccination to prove that the vaccine is safe. He said all British soldiers and civilians in the Gulf region would have the option of being vaccinated.

Annan said he will name Prakash Shah, 58, a diplomat from India, as his special representative to Iraq. Sources say Shah will be responsible for keeping Annan informed of developments in Iraq and will act as a liaison with Iraqi leaders.

An Iraqi opposition group in exile claimed Tuesday that since the February 23 agreement between Iraq and Annan, Iraq has moved chemical and biological weapons to dozens of farms outside Baghdad.

It said the weapons have been stashed away under the supervision of the Military Industrialization Organization, a government body responsible for manufacturing the weapons. But the claim by the London-based Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq could not be independently verified.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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