In what appears to be a critical step in the countdown to war, the US government has asked United Nations weapons inspectors to withdraw from Iraq, the UN’s chief nuclear inspector said on Monday.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said the UN Security Council would have to decide if there would be an evacuation. ”I understand that the Security Council will take up the issue today (Monday),” ElBaradei told a meeting of the IAEA board of governors, according to the agency’s website.
In Baghdad, a UN source said the inspectors expected to receive an evacuation order only after a meeting of the UN Security Council, which is due to begin at 1500 GMT in New York.
ElBaradei said: ”Late last night (Sunday), I was advised by the United States government to pull out our inspectors from Baghdad. Similar advice has been given to the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).”
The New York-based UNMOVIC, which is headed by Hans Blix, and the Vienna-based IAEA are the two agencies carrying out arms inspections in Iraq.
UNMOVIC oversees chemical, biological and rocket programs, while the IAEA is charged with verifying whether Baghdad has or is trying to develop a nuclear arms program.
Inspectors returned to Iraq last November after a four-year absence. A UN official in Vienna said there was a total of 130-140 UN inspectors and suppport staff in Iraq.
He said that ”if able to go by air” they could leave the country in ”a matter of hours.”
The inspectors ”have a charter flight standing by,” the official said.
He said the inspectors could theoretically leave without orders from the Security Council but he felt the Council should be consulted ”as a courtesy, and it is also appropriate for them to be involved in the process.”
ElBaradei said: ”Naturally the safety of our staff remains our primary consideration at this difficult time.
”I earnestly hope, even at this late hour, that a peaceful resolution of the issue can be achieved, and that the world can be spared a war,” he said.
He said that ”in recent weeks, possibly as a result of increasing pressure by the international community, Iraq has been more forthcoming in its cooperation with the IAEA.”
He also said that ”over the weekend, Dr Blix and I received an invitation from the Iraqi authorities to visit Iraq with a view to accelerating the implementation of our respective mandates.”
Blix and ElBaradei were to consult with the Security Council on this visit. The two men are also scheduled to update the Security Council this week on the inspections in Iraq. They have said that some progress was made with Iraqi officials during their last visit to Baghdad, on February 8-9.
But the latest Iraqi invitation was another case of the two top inspectors being ”invited when things go to the crunch”, a Western diplomat in Vienna said, speaking anonymously. – Sapa-AFP