Iraq Flag Iraq Special Collection

UNSCOM letter to UN Security Council

Distr.
GENERAL

S/1998/1127
30 November 1998

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

LETTER DATED 30 NOVEMBER 1998 FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE

SPECIAL COMMISSION ESTABLISHED BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL PURSUANT

TO PARAGRAPH 9 (b) (i) OF SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 687 (1991)

ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL

 

I have the honour to forward to you, and through you, to the members of the Security Council, a copy of the letters that I addressed to Mr. Tariq Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, on 27 November 1998.

I would appreciate it if the two letters could be circulated as documents of the Security Council.

 

(Signed) Richard BUTLER

Annex I

Letter dated 27 November 1998 from the Executive Chairman of the

Special Commission established by the Secretary-General pursuant

to paragraph 9 (b) (i) of Security Council resolution 687 (1991)

addressed to the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the

United Nations

 

I have the honour to transmit herewith a letter of today's date addressed to Mr. Tariq Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq. I would be grateful if you could arrange for its immediate transmission to Baghdad.

 

(Signed) Richard BUTLER

Enclosure

Letter dated 27 November 1998 from the Executive Chairman of the

Special Commission established by the Secretary-General pursuant

to paragraph 9 (b) (i) of Security Council resolution 687 (1991)

addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq

 

With reference to the letter of 26 November 1998 addressed to me by Mr. Riyadh al-Qaysi, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Iraq, I should like to respond to the proposals that I send three United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspection teams to Iraq.

We note with satisfaction that the Iraqi side is ready to cooperate with the Special Commission on several specific issues referred to in the Schedule for Work of 14 June 1998. As you are aware, the Commission has already proposed, and was ready to conduct, at the beginning of August 1998, the missions now requested by Iraq. It is for this reason that the Commission had kept the necessary technical resources at the Baghdad Monitoring and Verification Centre for a period of two months, that is, until October 1998.

Concerning the specific proposals contained in Mr. Riyadh al-Qaysi's letter, I should like to state the following:

1. With respect to the request that a team from UNSCOM assist in investigating the disposition of 155-mm shells filled with mustard, the Commission is ready to assist the Iraqi side with its search. To accomplish this effectively, we need to receive Iraq's clarifications on what specific support Iraq seeks from the Commission. As was mentioned in the Schedule for Work, "Iraq will give UNSCOM two weeks advance notice in case it would request deployment by UNSCOM of survey and verification equipment". If Iraq were to request ground-penetrating radar technology, we would need information on the possible locations to be examined and the size of those locations. This would enable the Commission to dispatch to Iraq the necessary resources and equipment. The Commission would also like to receive, in advance, records of all investigations referred to in the letter of 25 November 1998 from Mr. Riyadh al-Qaysi (S/1998/1125, annex). Such records would then be translated so that the discussions could be most productive. To date, the Commission has received only one such report. The procedures suggested would enable this work to be carried out as quickly as possible.

2. With respect to the request that a team from UNSCOM be sent to verify the accounting of tail units for R-400 aerial bombs, the Commission is preparing a mission which would be tasked to verify Iraq's declaration on the accounting for R-400 aerial bombs, including their tail sections. This mission will be sent to Iraq as soon as is practically possible.

3. With respect to the third request concerning the location of the pits which were used for the storage of special warheads, we intend to task the missile monitoring group now stationed at the Baghdad Monitoring and Verification Centre to carry out this mission in cooperation with their Iraqi counterparts.

It is evident that the preparation and implementation of these missions will take a certain amount of time. So that there will be no misunderstanding between us, I wish to state that it is not my intention that the implementation of these joint tasks should impact on the Commission's responsibility to report to the Secretary-General in accordance with the statement to the press by the President of the Council on 15 November. As I informed the Council during its informal consultations on 24 November, I expect to be in a position to formulate a report in two or three weeks time on whether or not Iraq has returned to full cooperation. This should be sufficient time to proceed with the full spectrum of our work.

 

(Signed) Richard BUTLER

Annex II

Letter dated 27 November 1998 from the Executive Chairman of the

Special Commission established by the Secretary-General pursuant

to paragraph 9 (b) (i) of Security Council resolution 687 (1991)

addressed to the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the

United Nations

 

I have the honour to transmit herewith a letter of today's date addressed to Mr. Tariq Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq. I would be grateful if you could arrange for its immediate transmission to Baghdad.

 

(Signed) Richard BUTLER

Enclosure

Letter dated 27 November 1998 from the Executive Chairman of the

Special Commission established by the Secretary-General pursuant

to paragraph 9 (b) (i) of Security Council resolution 687 (1991)

addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq

 

As you know, the members of the Security Council held informal consultations on 24 November 1998 to consider, in particular, issues related to the provision by Iraq of documents and access to relevant archives as requested by the Special Commission in its letter dated 17 November. I attended that meeting.

During the consultations, members of the Council supported the Commission's requests, contained in its letter of 17 November, that had been made in order to significantly advance work with respect to accounting for Iraq's proscribed weapons and related capabilities, and to increase the Commission's confidence in the level of verification already achieved.

On the issue of the Air Force document on the consumption of special munitions, and in the light of the discussions in the Council, I request that the Iraqi side hand over to the Acting Director of the Baghdad Monitoring and Verification Centre, by 30 November, the sealed envelope containing the document, so sealed, on 18 July 1998. If you deem it appropriate, the transfer of the document may be accompanied by a written statement with explanations that Iraq may wish to make, on this occasion, concerning the format and content of the document. Upon completion of translation and examination of the document by the Commission's experts, I will be ready to take appropriate decisions on follow-up steps, including, if required, meetings between experts from Iraq and the Commission, their timing and format.

In its letter dated 19 November, Iraq expressed its readiness to submit the documents which would meet the request of the Commission related to documents concerning the creation and armament of Missile Unit 223. I would appreciate it if these documents were handed over to the Acting Director of the Baghdad Monitoring and Verification Centre in the coming days so that the Commission may start translation and examination of them.

It would also be helpful if the other documents specified in the annex to my letter of 17 November (S/1998/1106, annex) could be provided as soon as possible.

In the light of the discussions in the Security Council, I hope that you can now find it possible to respond constructively so that progress may be achieved in resolving outstanding disarmament issues.

 

(Signed) Richard BUTLER


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