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Hussein, Saddam

Tensions Rise Between UN and Iraq Over Weapons Inspections

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The United Nations found itself facing increasing tensions with the Iraqi government over the demands of its weapons inspection teams. After a brief respite, Iraq's foreign minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf accused UN arms inspectors of a "savage campaign of disinformation" in their quest for documents about banned weapons. The Iraqi government has handed over "roughly" two million pages of documents to UNSCOM and the IAEA since 1991, but insists it cannot provide more information that does not exist.

Key Takeaways:

  • Iraq's foreign minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, accused UN arms inspectors of a "savage campaign of disinformation" in their quest for documents about banned weapons.
  • The Iraqi government claims it has handed over "roughly" two million pages of documents to UNSCOM and the IAEA since 1991.
  • Iraq's ambassador to the UN, Nizar Hamdoon, stated that Iraq faces a problem of trying to prove the negative and that the lack of trust between Iraq and the UN is a major issue.
  • US officials, including national security adviser Sandy Berger, have warned that Iraq's responses are not satisfactory and that the option of military strikes remains on the table.
  • Over 20,000 troops are at battle stations in the Persian Gulf, ready to launch an assault in several waves, beginning with cruise missiles and followed up with US bombers and British Tornado jets.

Statistics:

  • Iraq has handed over "roughly" two million pages of documents to UNSCOM and the IAEA since 1991.
  • Over 20,000 troops are at battle stations in the Persian Gulf, ready to launch an assault in several waves.
  • The US and Britain retain the military might they built up for the strike last week, which was aborted after Saddam's last-minute capitulation.

Sources:

  • MQ- The United Nations' Special Envoy to Iraq, Prakash Shah, is due to return to the Iraqi capital today (The article does not provide a date, so no date is added).
  • MQ- US officials, including national security adviser Sandy Berger, stated that Iraq's responses are not satisfactory (The article does not provide a date, so no date is added).
  • MQ- Over 20,000 troops are at battle stations in the Persian Gulf, ready to launch an assault in several waves (No source date is provided, so no date is added).
  • MQ- Iraq has handed over "roughly" two million pages of documents to UNSCOM and the IAEA since 1991 (The article does not provide a source date, so no date is added).
  • MQ- Bill Clinton was at first circumspect in his response to the latest Iraq dispute (The article does not provide a date, so no date is added).
  • MQ- Tareq Aziz, Saddam's deputy prime minister, denounced Richard Butler, saying he was either creating a pretext to justify an American attack or was seeking to thwart the comprehensive review (The article does not provide a date, so no date is added).
  • MQ- The newspaper Babel, run by Saddam's son Uday, accused Mr Clinton of maintaining the sanctions to bring down the regime, not to force it to comply with UN resolutions regarding its weapons of mass destruction (The article does not provide a date, so no date is added).

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