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United Nations

Diplomatic Efforts to Avert US Attack on Iraq Ahead of Security Council Visit

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan won the Security Council's blessing to visit the Iraqi capital in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a US attack. Annan stated he was leaving with a "reasonable chance of success" and would meet with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The US and Britain are threatening to attack Iraq to force it to give complete access to U.N. inspectors monitoring the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Key Takeaways:

  • The UN has expressed fear that a US attack may disrupt humanitarian supplies reaching the country under a program that allows Baghdad to sell $2 billion in oil every six months for food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods.
  • Iraq has blocked UN inspectors from eight presidential compounds, calling them symbols of Iraqi sovereignty.
  • The UN humanitarian office in Baghdad is reducing staff as a precaution against attack, with 29 employees being sent to Jordan and two to northern Iraq.
  • The US is "not going to willingly accept whatever results from this mission" and demands that Iraq allow complete access to U.N. inspectors.
  • Demonstrators in Jordan, Egypt, and the West Bank protested against US threats, with some burning US and Israeli flags.
  • The leader of one of Iraq's biggest opposition groups, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, is ready to send its forces into Iraq if a US-led attack leads to a revolt against Saddam.

Statistics:

  • The UN humanitarian office in Baghdad is reducing staff by 29 employees, who will be sent to Jordan.
  • The country's humanitarian supplies are valued at $2 billion.
  • The US demands that Iraq allow complete access to U.N. inspectors.
  • The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq has up to 12,000 soldiers and tanks at its camps in neighboring Iran.
  • 2 million Iraqis rely on humanitarian relief supplies under the oil-for-food program.

Sources:

  • Bloomberg
  • Associated Press
  • Al-Hayat, a London-based Arabic newspaper
  • BBC News

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