PRESS BRIEFING BY UNSCOM EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNSCOM EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Richard Butler, Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission which was established by Security Council resolution 687 (1991) in connection with the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (UNSCOM), addressed correspondents and responded to questions during today's press briefing at Headquarters.

Mr. Butler confirmed he would be travelling to Baghdad with a mixed team of scientific and policy experts. He would leave late next week and begin two days of talks with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz in Baghdad on Sunday, 22 March. Mr. Butler said he would also spend two days with the staff of UNSCOM's Baghdad Monitoring and Verification Centre in order to hear first- hand accounts of their work during the past two months.

Regarding the talks with Mr. Aziz, Mr. Butler said they would include a review of the progress made in the technical evaluation meetings, in particular, the discussions of missile warheads and the chemical weapon VX. While the biological technical evaluation meeting would not be finished at that time, that issue would also be discussed to some extent.

Mr. Butler said he and Mr. Aziz would also discuss future UNSCOM-Iraq cooperation in light of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed recently between the Secretary-General and the Deputy Prime Minister, and the arrangements for the inspection of the eight presidential sites, which would begin a few days after Mr. Butler departed from Baghdad. Under-Secretary- General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala -- appointed by the Secretary-General as the Commissioner who will head the special group established to inspect the eight presidential sites -- would also be present during some of the discussions with Mr. Aziz.

The UNSCOM Inspector Scott Ritter had met with the Secretary-General at Headquarters this morning, at the latter's request, Mr. Butler announced. Mr. Ritter briefed the Secretary-General on the work of UNSCOM Team 227, which ended its work on Monday, 9 March, including what happened during benchmark inspections of sensitive sites.

It was a benchmark inspection because the team had been granted unprecedented access, both in terms of the number of inspectors that had been allowed entry and the manner in which access was granted to the sites of inspection, Mr. Butler continued. Mr. Ritter had reported to the Secretary- General that UNSCOM had established new procedures and new benchmarks in Iraq for access to sensitive sites. Having established the practicality and usefulness of those procedures, UNSCOM hoped that they would be available to teams in the future. The Secretary-General had thanked Mr. Ritter for his report and encouraged him to continue his good work.

A correspondent said the Secretary-General had stated that the Memorandum of Understanding would be implemented because Saddam Hussein had been involved in the negotiations. What was his assessment? the correspondent asked. Mr. Butler said the situation had improved, and there was no reason not to believe it would continue to do so in the future. The agreement had worked well so far and had helped both sides.

Would it become routine for UNSCOM inspection team leaders to report to the Secretary-General after the completion of their visits to sensitive sites? a correspondent asked. Mr. Butler said that such a procedure would not be necessary as a matter of routine. Yet, when the Secretary-General asked to see a person, the team leader would be made available to brief him as required.

Asked when the inspections of presidential sites would commence, Mr. Butler said they would begin immediately after he left Baghdad, and Mr. Dhanapala would probably remain in Iraq until those inspections were completed. The UNSCOM was currently designing the plans for those inspections, in accordance with the special procedures. Those procedures stated that visits to the sites would be conducted by professional teams of UNSCOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA would make approximately 10 atomic inspectors available to the team. The Special Commission would contribute missile, biological and chemical inspectors, as well as the necessary technical support personnel.

The teams would be constituted according to the size of the sites, which varied greatly, Mr. Butler continued. One site in Baghdad had only one building, while another presidential site included several hundred buildings. After the technical teams were constituted, Mr. Dhanapala would be asked to select the names of the diplomats that were needed to complete the team. After the plans and instructions were made available to all team members, the team would perform baseline inspections of all eight sites, in an order yet to be determined. The length of the inspection process could not be estimated, because the sites were located in various parts of the country and varied in size.

Asked if the eight presidential sites would be placed under long-term monitoring, Mr. Butler said the teams would perform a baseline inspection and then determine what was required for the future. He could not answer the question until that first step was completed. Yet, a footnote to the special procedures stated that UNSCOM could employ all available methodologies in carrying out its mandate under the various Security Council resolutions.

Will members of the press be invited to accompany the teams on the inspections of the presidential sites? a correspondent asked. Mr. Butler said he was not certain and would look into the issue.

UNSCOM Briefing - 3 - 13 March 1998

Asked what percentage of UNSCOM's work was completed, Mr. Butler said, "UNSCOM had come a long way in missiles, a fairly long way in chemistry, but it had a long way to go in biology". Furthermore, a percentage of a given quantum could only be calculated if that finite quantum was known. Iraq must first give UNSCOM all the necessary materials, including declarations, and allow it to visit all the sites that were required for verification.

A correspondent said that the Iraqi Government considered the Executive Chairman an obstacle to the inspection process. Was he going to try to change that perception? the correspondent asked. Mr. Butler said Iraq had never made such a statement. "There have been various criticisms in various Iraqi media, and there have been differences of opinion between myself and Mr. Aziz, but there have also been strong points of agreement", he said. The Secretary- General's Memorandum of Understanding had created a new situation. It gave UNSCOM an unprecedented opportunity to complete its mandate, and he would do whatever he could to ensure that outcome.

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