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Disarmament DocumentationBack to Disarmament Documentation Iraq Letter to UN Secretary-General, November 13Excerpts of letter from Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, November 13. Your Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, You may recall the huge clamour fabricated by the President of the United States administration, in the biggest and most wicked slander against Iraq, supported in malicious intent, and spearheaded in word and malevolence, by his lackey Tony Blair, when they disseminated the claim that Iraq had perhaps produced, or was on its way to produce, nuclear weapons, during the time when the United Nations inspectors had been absent from Iraq since 1998. Then they returned to stress that Iraq had in fact produced chemical and biological weapons. They both know, as well as we do, and so can other countries, that such fabrications are baseless ... Indeed, is there any good to be hoped for, or expected, from the American administrations, now that they have been transformed by their own greed, by Zionism as well as by other known factors, into the tyrant of the age? … Iraq, having seen this fabrication work perhaps with some countries and amongst public opinion, while others maintained silence, confronted them with its agreement to the return of the UN inspectors, having agreed on this first with you, as UN chief, in New York on 16 September, 2002, and later in a press statement issued jointly in Vienna following a meeting [from] 30 September to 1 October between an Iraqi technical delegation...the chief UN weapons Inspector Hans Blix and Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. But after Iraq's acceptance of the return of the UN inspectors had become an established fact...Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, declared that he would refuse to accept the inspectors' return to Iraq. In the meantime, the gang of evil returned to talking about adopting a new resolution...in order to create something for the world to talk about, other than following the work of the inspectors and then seeing the fact already stated by Iraq, which was that Iraq neither had produced nor was in possession of any weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical or biological, throughout the time of the inspectors' absence from Iraq ... We fear that the United Nations may lose the trust and attachment of peoples, that is if it has not fallen to that place already ... It may also be due to expediency and compromise amongst those interests in falsehood at the expense of truth. So the United Nations and its agencies will collapse in the same way as did its predecessor, the League of Nations. Then, the responsibility for this will not rest with the American administration alone, but will also be due to the weakness of the timid who allow themselves to work for American interests, under the threat, lure or Iraqi promises of the American administration ... We know that those who pressed the Security Council to adopt resolution 1441 have other objectives than making sure that Iraq had not developed mass-destruction weapons in the absence of the inspectors since 1998. You are aware of how and who stood behind their [the inspectors] absence [from Iraq]. We also know that there are no true, just, or fair reasons behind the adoption of this resolution in the name of the Security Council ... We hereby inform you that we will deal with resolution 1441, despite its bad contents, if it is to be implemented according to the premeditated evil of the parties of ill-intent, the important thing in this is trying to spare our people from any harm. But we will not forget, nor should others do, that safeguarding our people's dignity, security, independence, and protecting our country, its sovereignty and sublime values, is as a sacred duty ... Therefore...we are prepared to receive the inspectors, so that they can carry out their duties, and make sure that Iraq had not developed weapons of mass destruction during their absence since 1998. We hereby ask you to inform the Security Council that we are prepared to receive the inspectors within the assigned timetable. The parties concerned should bear in mind that we are in our holy month of Ramadan which means that the people are fasting, and this holy month will be followed by the Muslims' Eid ... Dealing with the inspectors, the government of Iraq will, also, take into consideration their way of conduct, the intentions of those who are ill-intentioned amongst them, and their improper approach in showing respect to the people's national dignity, their independence and security, and their country's security, independence, and sovereignty. We are eager to see them perform their duties in accordance with international law as soon as possible. If they do so, professionally and lawfully, without any premeditated intentions, the liars' lies will be exposed to public opinion, and the declared objective of the Security Council will be achieved. It will then become the lawful duty of the Security Council to lift the blockade and all the other unjust sanctions on Iraq ... The Security Council will be compelled before the public opinion and the law to activate paragraph 14 of its resolution No. 687 by applying it to the Zionist entity, and then, to all the Middle East region, to make it a region void of mass-destruction weapons... This will help the stability of the region and the world, if it is accompanied by a resolution that will not be based on double standards, to put an end to the Zionist occupation of Palestine, and other occupied Arab territories, and if the warmongers stop their aggressions on the Muslims and the world. Therefore, through you, we reiterate the same words to the Security Council: Send your inspectors to Iraq to make sure of this, and everyone will be sure, if their way of conduct is supervised so that it becomes legal and professional, that Iraq has not developed weapons of mass destruction, whether nuclear, chemical, or biological, as claimed by evil people. The lies and manipulations of the American administration and British government will be exposed, while the world will see how truthful and adequate are the Iraqis in what they say and do. But if the whims of the American administration, the Zionist desires, their followers, intelligence services, threats, and foul temptation, were given the chance to play and tamper with the inspection teams or some of their members, the colours would be then confused and the resulting commotion will distort the facts and push the situation into dangerous directions. ... The fieldwork and the implementation will be the decisive factors that will reveal whether the intentions were really for the Security Council to make sure that Iraq is void of those alleged weapons, or whether the whole thing was nothing but an evil cover by those who were behind the resolution who have no scruples to utter debased slander and to tell lies ... The final word and reference will still be resolution No. 687 with its obligations on both the Secretary General and Iraq, along will the code of conduct agreed upon in the agreement signed by the Secretary-General in New York on 16 September 2002, and the press statement of Hans Blix and (Mohamed) ElBaradei in Vienna ... Mr. Secretary-General, please assume your responsibilities, by saying [to] and advising the unfair people that their unfairness to Muslims, faithful Arabs, and to all, will be of dire consequences, and that God, the Almighty, is capable of doing everything ... I wish to inform your Excellency before I conclude this letter, that I intend to forward another letter to you on a later date, in which I shall state our observations [concerning] the measures and procedures, contained in Security Council Resolution 1441, that are contrary to international law, the UN Charter, the facts already established and the measures contained in previous relevant resolutions of the Security Council. Source: Text of Iraqi letter to UN, BBC News Online, November 13, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2468487.stm. © 2002 The Acronym Institute. |