(18 Feb 1998) English/Nat
The United States says it won't automatically go along with any agreement struck between Baghdad and U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, White House press secretary Mike McCurry said any agreement would have to fulfil certain basic principals concerning Iraqi weapons inspections.
Annan decided to make a last ditch attempt to peacefully resolve the Gulf crisis as President Clinton laid the groundwork for a possible air strike to force Saddam's hand.
Apparently inching closer toward airstrikes against Iraq, McCurry said there was little hope for optimism about reaching a diplomatic solution with President Saddam.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We want every effort to be made to achieve a peaceful diplomatic solution to this crisis and we hope that the Secretary General can find one. There has been no indication from the government of Iraq that would lend anyone to be optimistic, they have met only obstinacy, concealment, deliberate lies about past practices, no indication of a willingness to do the necessary which is to live up to their international obligations."
SUPER CAPTION: Mike McCurry, White House Press Secretary
U-S officials have warned that they won't accept any settlement that would dilute the power of the U-N Special Commission on Iraq, which is charged with carrying out the weapons inspections.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
Q: Would the United States accept in principal the idea of diplomatic observers accompanying UNSCOM teams?
"What we would accept is a solution that allows the U-N Special Commission to have access to the sites that it has not been allowed to visit, that allows them to continue to do the work that they must do and that maintains the integrity of the U-N inspections process in Iraq. How that might work, what the parameters of any solution like that might be is exactly the work that the secretary-general right now addresses as he makes his trip to Baghdad."
SUPER CAPTION: Mike McCurry, White House Press Secretary
The Clinton administration however remains sceptical that diplomacy will turn Saddam around.
Russia, France and the Arab League have all tried with little success.
Should Annan also fail, McCurry said the situation would be bleak.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
Q: Once the Secretary-General returns from Baghdad, if he does not have a diplomatic solution, what would that signify in terms of where we are?
"That would be a very grave matter."
Q: Do you consider this the last diplomatic effort?
"I don't want to foresee what future possibilities diplomacy might have at that point, that they are quickly running out."
SUPER CAPTION: Mike McCurry, White House Press Secretary
Annan will leave New York on Thursday and arrive in Baghdad on Friday -- he's expected to meet Saddam over the weekend.
Former U-N Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar made a similar eleventh-hour visit to Baghdad in a bid to avert the last Gulf war.
It's hoped Annan's last ditch attempt for peace will prove more successful than his predecessor's.
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