Timehost: Good evening, I am Bill Dowell, TIME's correspondent at the
United Nations, and tonight we are talking on line with Iraq's ambassador to
the United Nations, Nizar Hamdoon. I'd like to start off with a question of
my own. Mr. Ambassador, how has the agreement signed in Baghdad changed
the situation there?
Nizar Hamdoon: I think the situation was pending a peaceful resolution of
the crisis, and Baghdad was waiting for the Secretary General to introduce
himself both as a mediator and as a supervisor of the type of work that goes
under his prerogative as the chief diplomat of the United Nations. So
obviously, when he went there, the chances of success improved, and we were
able after two marathonic days to achieve the accord. And this has really
kept all the parties short of any escalation.
Timehost: Let's open this up to questions from the audience now. Here
is a first question:
Woods_time asks: Why does Iraq persist in attempting to develop
chemical and biological weapons?
Nizar Hamdoon: Well, Iraq denies that it has kept or is attempting to
develop any such weapons.
Fister10thMtn asks: Does Iraq have Internet access?
Nizar Hamdoon: Right now, due to the deterioration of our
telecommunications system, we don't have this privilege.
KegTapR asks: Why does Saddam try to protect his Presidential sites
with civilians? He certainly isn't trying to protect his people. Just his
weapons.
Nizar Hamdoon: If Saddam was trying to protect weapons, so to speak, he
would not have allowed this international team, which includes UNSCOM
experts, to get into all the Presidential sites, which are eight.
Warren1913 asks: Does the President's lack of world support influence
any recent decisions by Iraq?
Nizar Hamdoon: I think that the reactions that we have been seeing all
over the world and within the Arab region, have shown sympathy with the
cause of Iraq towards lifting the sanctions and opposition to the concept of
the use of force.
Woods_time asks: Ambassador, please describe Iraq's relationship with
Russia. Does Iraq consider Russia an ally?
Nizar Hamdoon: We have a friendly relationship with Russia. The question
of alliances does not apply, in the type of international relationship we
have now. This is at least our perspective.
Ussocdoc asks: Will Iraq abide by the newly drawn agreements ...in no
uncertain terms ?
Nizar Hamdoon: Yes, we shall abide by it.
Stamm4 asks: Why did Iraq invade Kuwait, a fellow member of the
League of Arab States and a Muslim country? Does Iraq recognize Kuwaiti
independence.?
Nizar Hamdoon: We have recognized Kuwaiti independence throughout the
seventies and eighties. The issue of the invasion of Kuwait is a past issue.
We don't like right now to indulge in it. We have had our reasons, but we
think that it would be only opening the wounds if we were to address it in
the current circumstances. We would rather leave it to the historians. We
are, right now, looking forward to healing the wounds. In 1994, Iraq again
officially recognized not only the state of Kuwait but also the Security Council
demarcated borders.
Otavon asks: Why are Arab countries that were attacked by Iraq
before, now supporting Iraq through this crisis?
Nizar Hamdoon: I think this question reflects the new realities in the
region that the United States is ignoring--that sanctions cannot stabilize, and
that sanctions are a killing means which people resent.
Roseofidaho asks: Iraq has sacrificed a lot of people and wealth over
the last decade. Is there a reason or a goal? It seems senseless and
without reason.
Nizar Hamdoon: Well, the Iraqi sacrifice was forced upon us. We did not
choose to let those hundreds of thousands of people die, but we were
cornered in a situation, and we were given no other options but to sit down
and wait for a relief.
PearlJam___ asks: Why does Saddam keep pushing us to the edge?
Nizar Hamdoon: I would put it the other way around. Why does the U.S. keep
pushing us, the Iraqis, to the edge? If you keep starving 22 million people
for over seven years, isn't that what's really pushing to the edge?
Warren1913 asks: If American aircraft attack, will Iraq answer with
biological weapons?
Nizar Hamdoon: No, because we do not acquire them. Nor are we interested
in a nuclear retaliation.
ElvenMoon asks: What are the long term prospects for U.S. and Iraqi
relations?
Nizar Hamdoon: I have no idea. Except to say that we did not pick America
as an enemy. Unfortunately, the US has picked us as an enemy. We want to
establish normal relations with the United States, despite our differences.
The_Best_Bet asks: Do you believe Israel posses a threat to Iraq?
Nizar Hamdoon: Well, from the circumstantial evidence, it looks like
Israel is interested in destabilizing Iraq, up to partitioning Iraq. And
Israel has also been calling for the maintenance of sanctions on the Iraqi
people, which is very damaging for the interests of Iraq.
Belshazaar asks: The U.S. is saying that Richard Butler will be in
charge of Presidential inspections -- is this not contrary to the agreement
brokered by Kofi Annan?
Nizar Hamdoon: The team that will be formed by Mr. Annan under the text
of the agreement will be chaired by a commissioner that will be appointed by
Mr. Annan. This is the text of the accord, unless the US wants to change
that text.
Timehost: By your interpretation of the agreement, does the agreement
call for Mr. Butler to head the inspections or does it call for someone
else to be in charge?
Nizar Hamdoon: As I mentioned, Mr. Kofi Annan, under the agreement, will
be appointing a commissioner and not Mr. Butler to head the team.
Timehost: How do you feel about Mr. Annan's selection of the
ambassador from Sri Lanka as the new commissioner?
Nizar Hamdoon: Frankly, I have not heard of that yet.
Jess_00_1998 asks: Mr. Hamdoon if your people are starving, why did
you not feed them with the $2 billion you received in the past 6 months from
oil Sales ?
Nizar Hamdoon: We did feed them. We are now in the third phase
of that program, and we have accepted the expansion of that program, which
has been recommended by Mr. Annan recently.
Markspence asks: If the sanctions are imposed by the UN, why are they
seen as American sanctions?
Nizar Hamdoon: Well, given the influence that the United States has over
the Security Council in the post-Cold War era, and the veto power that the
United States maintains, and the early establishment of UNSCOM, the special
commission in charge of disarmament of Iraq, the U.S. has maintained a good
control over this commission -- and therefore is in a position to influence
its activities directed to delay the lifting of the sanctions.
Reno46 asks: What provoked the attack on Israel during the Gulf War?
Nizar Hamdoon: Well, what provoked Iraq to do that was the
American-Israeli alliance, as perceived by the majority of the Arab world.
Straightcash asks: how often are you in contact with Saddam Hussein
Nizar Hamdoon: Whenever I am in Baghdad.
Bnyseco asks: and will you still try to exclude Americans on the
inspection team(s)?
Nizar Hamdoon: No, we will not exclude Americans but we would like to see
a proportional participation of the different Security Council member
states, and for the teams not to be dominated by the Americans given the
declared hostile policy of the U.S. towards Iraq.
Timehost: Mr. Ambassador, there has been some reaction by Republicans
in Congress to the agreement signed in Baghdad. Some say they suspect it
might be a trap. What is your reaction to that?
Nizar Hamdoon: I believe that the congressional reactions are mainly
politically oriented. And also because of the confusion that stems out of
the inconsistency of the American policy and statements on Iraq. At one
time they say that its the Security Council resolutions that Iraq has to comply
with, and another time they say that sanctions will not be lifted as long as
Saddam Hussein is in power--those are Madeleine Albright's statements.
Timehost: What do you expect to happen in the near future?
Nizar Hamdoon: Some activities.
Timehost: Mr. Ambassador, what do you think convinced Saddam Hussein
to change his mind and sign the agreement with the UN after having resisted
for so long.
Nizar Hamdoon: What we have resisted in the past is the intrusive nature
of the work of UNSCOM. When Kofi Annan came to Baghdad and promised a fair,
impartial and professional type of work, we accepted that. It is not a change towards
the process of disarmament, as a concept.
Timehost: Some of the UN inspectors say that they were badly treated
in Iraq. That is, that Iraqi soldiers burned evidence in front of them, and
refused to allow them into sites when they needed to go there. Did that
have something to do with the bad relations?
Nizar Hamdoon: This is a one-sided story. Iraq has not been fairly
listened to. Now for the first time, we are going to have witnesses,
impartial witnesses. We had lack of trust between us and UNSCOM. Hopefully,
the coming weeks will witness more professional non-political work. Iraq
has no interest in hiding documents or weapons. Our interests lie in ending
the killing sanctions as soon as possible.
Timehost: We have read reports that more troops from the U.S. have
moved into the area despite the signing of the agreement. Is that a cause
of concern.
Nizar Hamdoon: It's surely a cause of concern, because military buildups
are incompatible with peaceful resolutions.
Timehost: What is your impression of the way the U.S. has reacted to
the signing of the agreement?
Nizar Hamdoon: I could see that in their red eyeballs.
Pollybird asks: How long do you feel it will be before this
Annan agreement will start?
Nizar Hamdoon: I think it will probably start within a few days. It's up
to him, but my feeling is that things will move quickly as of next week.
Markspence asks: Does there exist in Iraq any real political
opposition to Mr. Saddam Hussein?
Nizar Hamdoon: I don't feel that there is any political opposition to the
government in Iraq. There are probably different views on the different
issues and policies, but the sanctions did not allow us real, genuine
political reform, which President Hussein was pursuing back in 1989 and on.
RomanticCalMale asks: Mr. Ambassador, thank you for being here. My
concern is the lack of knowledge the common man of each country has of the
other thus encouraging alienation. Has there been any discussions in
government circles to allow more Iraqi free press?
Nizar Hamdoon: Yes. President Hussein back in 1989 proposed a reform that
will include the creation of a multi-party system that will be a base for
diverse media. Namely, newspapers that could express the different views of
the parties that could develop to help enhance democracy in Iraq. But all
that effort was blocked by the situation created under the sanctions.
Wonka23 asks: What is your country's view on the moderate government
that has taken office in Iran?
Nizar Hamdoon: We have welcomed some of the gestures made by the new
Iranian government. But we think that they were not enough to get the whole
Iraqi-Iranian relationship back to normal -- which we would like to see.
SassyChad asks: Mr. Ambassador, thanks for being here in this forum.
What is the mood among the Iraqi people now that the latest crisis is
somewhat over?
Nizar Hamdoon: I think that the mood in Iraq is still apprehensive given
the skeptical reaction of the United States regarding the recent agreement.
And I'll be very frank in telling you that the bulk of the Iraqi population
would love to see normal relations between the U.S. and Iraq and to see, some
day, the American President sitting down and talking with the Iraqi
President to address the concerns of both countries.
Sundevil021 asks: Ambassador, what influence do you feel Russia had on the
UN negotiations with Iraq?
Nizar Hamdoon: I think Russia was catalyst in the subject of promoting a
professional approach to the disarmament issues in the context of
implementing United Nations resolutions.
Timehost: A questioner on line asked if Saddam will now free the
remaining Kuwaiti prisoners who are still being held after the end of the
war?
Nizar Hamdoon: Iraq has denied having any Kuwaiti prisoners of war. We
released over 7000 Kuwaitis immediately after the cease-fire back in
1991, including members of the ruling family in Kuwait. We don't have any
interest in keeping any of those. If Iraq has kept any of those for future
benefit, what would be that benefit? Wouldn't that be self-defeating to
Iraq to keep those people who were missing in action under the hostilities of 1991.
Iraq itself has thousands of Iraqis who were missing in action during the
same period. Would it be fair for us to accuse the Kuwaitis or Americans of
keeping them for any purposes?
Timehost: Another questioner on line asks why Saddam has built such
expensive palaces with fine marble and luxurious accommodations if his people
are starving?
Nizar Hamdoon: No impartial body has gone to visit those places that
could report fairly, except the recent team that was sent by Kofi Annan to
go into them, and make a precise definition of those sites. First of all,
all the eight presidential sites in Iraq do not amount to more than nine
square miles. Which is much smaller than the Washington DC district, as
somebody has suggested for one of them. This issue has been inflated and
exaggerated and hopefully, when the appointed team will start its work next
week, we'll discover the real truth.
guest_ebc10904 asks: Mr. Ambassador.. Does the government in Iraq have
any long term plans to solve the strange situation in the north of the
country where it is more or less a state inside a state?
Nizar Hamdoon: Iraq was forced into the current situation regarding the
north. Military power was used by the United States and Britain to keep the
north of Iraq outside of government control, which has led to a very
insecure and unstable situation. It's premature right now to talk about any
future plans unless the U.S. and the U.K. decide to withdraw their
interference in the skies and on the ground of Kurdistan. Then I would not
see any problem for the Kurds themselves to come back and to renegotiate the
agreement that was discussed back in 1991 with the government in Baghdad to
normalize relations.
Timehost: Mr. Ambassador, thank you for an informative discussion.
Is there a final assessment of the situation, and are there any last words
you'd like to say before we say good night?
Nizar Hamdoon: Well, I think that what we have learned since we were
kids--that American values focus on fairness and a business-like
approach to the outside world--and that you cannot go and shoot somebody
else before making sure that he has done something wrong. And you have
always to give the benefit of the doubt, and that you have always to produce
evidence. This, unfortunately, has not been the case with Iraq throughout
the last seven years. So why don't we talk about it? The best way to end all
these series of crises, and to save both Iraqi and American lives, is to
find a direct channel with the Iraqi government.
Timehost: Thank you Mr. Ambassador. I am Bill Dowell and we have been
talking with Nizar Hamdoon, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations. Good
night.
Nizar Hamdoon: Thank you.
