Russia Ready to Accept New UN Resolution on Iraq, Conditionally

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 09, 2002

Russia Ready to Accept New UN Resolution on Iraq, Conditionally

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Russia expressed readiness on Tuesday to accept a new United Nations Security Council resolutionon weapons inspection in Iraq on condition that it does not contain any impossible clauses or the automatic use of force against Iraq.

"Such a new resolution should not, first, contain new requirements that cannot be implemented," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

"Secondly, it must be based on all existing UN Security Councilresolutions on Iraq. And thirdly, it must not include conditions that would lead to the automatic use of force," he noted.

The chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed last Friday that UN weaponsinspectors should not return to Baghdad until a new UN resolution was passed.

Fedotov reaffirmed Russia's stance that "international inspections in Iraq should begin as soon as possible and, from thelegal point of view, no additional decisions are necessary."

Mentioning the existing two unofficial draft resolutions -- a US-British one and a French one, Fedotov said the French proposal "in its present form conforms with our stance."

He said that at Russia's initiative a provision was included inthe French draft confirming the linkage of the resumption of international inspections in Iraq with the suspension and following cancellation of sanctions against Iraq.

Fedotov rejected the US-Britain version, which would give Baghdad seven days to declare all its weapons of mass destruction programs or face military action. He said it "contains demands that cannot be implemented."

The United States and Britain, which accuse Iraq of developing weapons of mass destruction, are pressing for a strong resolution that would authorize the use of force if Iraq fails to comply withthe UN demand.

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