S/PV.4344 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of July, I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to Mr. Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, for his service as President of the Security Council for the month of June 2001. I am sure I speak for all members of the Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Chowdhury for the great diplomatic skill with which he conducted the Council’s business last month. Adoption of the agenda

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the report of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 5 of resolution 1330 (2000), document S/2001/505. Members of the Council also have before them document S/2001/652, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. It is my understanding that the Security Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution (S/2001/652) before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1360 (2001). I shall now call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting. Sir Jeremy Greenstock (United Kingdom): We are all agreed that it is vital for the Security Council to decide to keep the United Nations humanitarian programme operating in Iraq for a further phase. The programme is doing immensely important and valuable work and is making a real difference in improving the lives of ordinary Iraqis. We take this opportunity to applaud the work of the Executive Director and his staff in New York and in the field, and to give them our wholehearted support in the face of difficulties which we can all too readily appreciate. The United Kingdom regrets that the Security Council has been unable to agree on a new set of arrangements to make substantial further improvements in the humanitarian programme, in particular by freeing up dramatically the flow of goods into Iraq. We recall that the principles of our new approach were unanimously approved by Council members in resolution 1352 (2001). Following the adoption of that resolution, the details of our proposals have been intensively discussed and improved, and four permanent members of the Council have now agreed on the goods-review list. As demonstrated in last week’s formal meeting, there is now a wide sense across the United Nations membership that it is the right time for new arrangements, such as those we have proposed, to be implemented. There is no good reason for delay. That approach of ours is not a substitute for progress on the wider questions. We remain ready to engage in discussion of the implementation of resolution 1284 (1999). But there is as yet no sign of a willingness by Iraq even to begin to cooperate in meeting its obligations under that resolution or, indeed, under other resolutions. Iraq consistently refuses to contemplate the return of United Nations disarmament inspectors. Why, then, delay the adoption of improvements in the humanitarian programme? I would like at this point also to record our continuing deep concern over Iraq’s unforgivable failure to cooperate further to address the issue of missing Kuwaiti prisoners and stolen property. Put simply, our proposed new measures would help the Iraqi people. They would provide an immediate benefit that now has to be postponed. So the United Kingdom will continue to try to resolve outstanding issues with Council members in the hope of introducing our new approach as soon as possible. Any further delay to the prospect of real improvements in Iraq’s civilian economy would, in the circumstances, be unjustifiable.

The United States worked hard to adopt a different sort of draft resolution today, one that would have benefited the Iraqi people and the Gulf region. We could have, and the Council should have, done better, and we all know why that was not possible. Our proposal is simple: lift the controls on purely civilian trade while maintaining the focus on the military items and technologies which must be controlled so that Iraq cannot restore its weapons of mass destruction programmes or threaten its neighbours. We have achieved considerable success. Resolution 1352 (2001) registered Council consensus on the main elements of a new approach, one that would serve as a bridge between the current situation and that day when Iraq implements resolution 1284 (1999) and all other relevant Council resolutions. Iraq, however, clearly wishes that approach blocked and prefers the status quo with the humanitarian programme and across the board. There is broad support within the Council for an effort by the United States and the United Kingdom to implement that proposal, and we will continue. Last week, after a month of detailed discussions, we produced the goods-review list which is central to the new approach. That list is supported by four of the five permanent members, and it merits the support of all Council members, including Russia. It is the vital step forward in providing the basis for the adoption of the United Kingdom draft resolution. That draft resolution remains under active consideration, and the Council should adopt it as soon as possible. It is now apparent that agreement in the Council to change radically our approach to Iraq is not only desirable but achievable. It would have been adopted today save for the threat of a veto. But a veto would bring our work to a halt and thus would be a victory for Iraq. Therefore, my delegation agreed to this rollover of the oil-for-food programme while we consolidate and build on the success we have achieved thus far. Our reluctance stems not from lack of commitment or belief in the oil-for-food programme or in the remarkable work of the United Nations in carrying that programme out, which we believe represents both high ideals and world-class performance by the programme Director and his colleagues. Rather, our disappointment stems from the opportunity that we, the Council, have lost for the time being. The biggest losers in the failure to move forward are not the United Kingdom, the United States or the majority of Council members that favour the new approach. The ones who have lost the most are in fact the Iraqi people. The revisions we propose would facilitate trade and accelerate commerce, and they would improve the lot of Iraq’s people. We will use the time before the next rollover to press ahead with our approach. We have made considerable progress, and have come too close to agreement to concede the field to Baghdad. My delegation began this effort seeking to restore a Council consensus that would help Iraq’s people and would stand firm against Iraq’s ability to threaten its neighbours. Our strongest weapon is Council unity, and this rollover provides more time for those who agree with our approach to help us build support to achieve that goal.

We supported the draft resolution just adopted, which incorporates a further five-month rollover of the oil-for- food programme. Our support is in line with Tunisia’s consistent position on the question of Iraq, by which we have always affirmed the need to adopt a comprehensive approach taking all aspects of the question into account in a way that would ensure an improvement in the humanitarian situation of the Iraqi people and that would effect further advances leading to an appropriate settlement to the question. Open Security Council debates and negotiations within the Council have shown that the effects of the sanctions imposed on Iraq are not confined by Iraq’s borders, but extend beyond them to neighbouring countries and other countries of the region. In that light we consider that it is important for the Security Council to adopt a new groundbreaking approach that would open the way to a consensus solution based on a comprehensive outlook taking account of the various problems related to Iraq, and leading to a resolution of the humanitarian issues facing Iraq and neighbouring countries. In supporting the draft resolution we have just adopted, Tunisia stresses the importance of using the new rollover period in the humanitarian programme to intensify our recent discussions with a view to finding a comprehensive solution to the problem in all its aspects and dimensions, and to continue our work on the basis of constructive consultation and consensus. In this context we call for the resumption of a comprehensive dialogue between the Secretary-General and Iraq, because we believe that it represents an important way that we cannot do without, and is indispensable for advancing our work on the Iraqi question.

The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on the agenda. The Council will remain seized of the matter.