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France rejects U.S. proposal on Iraq flights

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November 5, 2000 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States proposed new procedures to try to resolve the Security Council dispute over flights to Iraq, but France immediately rejected them because they would still allow Washington to control who and what enters the country.

The issue has grown more pressing as Arab and other countries continue to send planes to Baghdad in a challenge to 10-year-old sanctions. Dozens have landed in the last six weeks, some without getting approval from the U.N. committee that monitors sanctions on Iraq.

France and Russia say Security Council resolutions only require countries to notify the committee of a proposed flight - not get its explicit approval. The United States and Britain have said the committee, made up of all 15 council members, must approve each flight to ensure that it is indeed bringing in humanitarian aid and not banned cargo.

The United States circulated a proposal Friday that said committee members need not approve every flight going into Baghad and could merely be notified if they were satisfied that the planes were bringing in only food and medicine.

But the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, also said committee members could require that passengers or cargo be removed before the plane took off if they were of questionable humanitarian use.

France said the American proposal was a non-starter since it essentially preserved the ability of the Americans to block a flight, or at least the cargo and passengers on it.

France did, however, agree with some of the proposal's provisions that call for customs inspections of all flight cargo at both the departure and arrival points to ensure there are no banned items on board, the official said. France circulated a proposal with similar inspection provisions weeks ago.

Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, however, rejected another element of the American proposal which would, in effect, ban flights in the U.S.- and British-patrolled no-fly zones, diplomats said. Lavrov said the proposal would imply U.N. recognition of the zones over northern and southern Iraq, which Russia rejects.

France launched the campaign to ease restrictions on flights into Baghdad on Sept. 22, when it sent a plane full of roller-skaters, doctors and artists to Baghdad without waiting for the committee to approve it. That flight was followed by a Russian plane that also didn't get approval.

Dozens of countries have sent flights since then, but most have waited for the committee's approval and provided extra information about the cargo manifest and passenger list often sought by the United States, which along with Britain takes the hardest line against Iraq in the Security Council.

While a handful of countries have not waited for approval, only Syria and Libya have failed to even notify the committee of a proposed flight, Western diplomats said Friday.