Word: butler
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...much for diplomatic niceties. When it comes to resolving the Iraq crisis, precisely nothing has changed since U.N. inspectors returned last month. That much became clear Thursday when chief weapons inspector Richard Butler briefed the Security Council on Iraq?s continued refusal to allow him access to presidential compounds. The Security Council itself hasn?t changed, either ? France, Russia and China are still not willing to sanction any military punishment. All of which keeps the standoff ticking over, and the insults jockeying back and forth. Word to Saddam: Just keep Buddy...
BAGHDAD: Chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler says there?s no way out of the standoff over Iraq?s weapons of mass destruction and its refusal to grant UNSCOM access to presidential sites. But don?t expect any military action as a result, says TIME correspondent William Dowell...
...Butler will report to the Security Council on Thursday that Baghdad refuses to back down and allow the U.N. team to inspect presidential sites. That will leave the Security Council to decide what to do next. Says Dowell: ?It?s hard to see what more anyone can do short of military action. But there?s considerable feeling against any military action in the Gulf, and without the support of allies in the Arab world and the Gulf, it?s hard to imagine the U.S. launching an attack...
...Persian Gulf bugaboos, Iran and Iraq. To wit: Iranian President Mohammed Khatami says he wants to talk ? and according to TIME Middle East correspondent Scott MacLeod, it's a genuine offer. Meanwhile Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz is embroiled in potentially positive discussions with Richard Butler, chief U.N. weapons inspector, over opening up more sites to inspectors of all nations ? even American ones...
...Butler and Aziz, the first time the two sides have sat down to talk weapons since last month's standoff is progress in itself. The U.N. chief says we'll know in the next couple of days whether Iraq will consent to having its 60-odd palatial compounds inspected. Peace in the Gulf ? just in time for the holidays...