SUNS  4348 Friday 18 December 1998



UNITED NATIONS: KOFI ANNAN UNHAPPY WITH ATTACK

United Nations, Dec 16 (IPS) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Wednesday regretted his failure to prevent joint US-British military action against Iraq.

"This is a sad day for the United Nations and for the world," Annan said as the 15 nations of the U.N. Security Council held an emergency session on the Iraq crisis. "My thoughts tonight are with the people of Iraq, with the 307 U.N. humanitarian workers who remain in the country,  and with all others whose lives are in danger."

Annan added that he had tried throughout the past year to find diplomatic alternatives to the use of force in Iraq, but that he regretted that "these efforts have proved insufficient".

U.S. and British forces launched air strikes on Iraq following a report by Richard Butler, chair of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM), that Iraq again had failed to cooperate with weapons inspectors.

Chinese Ambassador Qin Huasun, who left the emergency session of the Council visibly angry, denounced Butler's report as "one- sided", and questioned the UNSCOM chief's decision to pull out all of the roughly 120 weapons inspectors from Iraq.
The air strikes renewed divisions in the Council on Iraq, with two permanent members - Britain and the United States - involved in the attack and the other three - France, China and Russia - sharply
critical.

Russia has demanded a formal meeting of the Council on the crisis, but most diplomats believe that the United States and Britain, both of which hold veto power, can easily block any attempts to criticise their actions.

One British official, who declined to be named, dismissed the notion that Annan's comments - which contained no criticism of Iraq or justification for the strikes - amounted to a slap at the nations which
had initiated the attack. "It's the least he could do" after Iraq asked his assistance to secure a diplomatic solution to the latest crisis, he said.