SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS HOPE FOR SATISFACTORY DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO PRESENT CRISIS APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED
Press Release
SG/SM/6796
IK/257
SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS HOPE FOR SATISFACTORY DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO PRESENT CRISIS APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED
19981115 Iraq Asked to Move Swiftly to Ensure `Complete And Unconditional Compliance' with Council ResolutionsThis is the text of a statement to the press this evening by Secretary- General Kofi Annan, following consultations of the Security Council:
The international community had unanimously expressed its hope for a satisfactory diplomatic solution to the present crisis. It appears that this outcome has now been achieved.
In common with many members of the Security Council, I am grateful to President Clinton for the courageous and difficult decision which he announced earlier today.
This is a victory for all those who expressed their firm determination that United Nations Security Council resolutions must be respected. It is a victory for diplomacy and resolve. For the crisis to be put permanently behind us, Iraq must move swiftly to ensure complete and unconditional compliance. That is the best way towards the lifting of sanctions and a better life for the people of Iraq.
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