Allies Demand Tough Terms for Iraq Surrender

Some Arab diplomats insist that Iraq must not be the only nation in the Mideast to demilitarize and that compensation should be fairer

COALITION victors have decided at the United Nations that Iraq, formerly one of the most secretive and politically controlled societies in the world, must open itself up to international inspection if it expects to receive urgent humanitarian aid - or to negotiate a cease-fire. The increasingly stringent demands appear designed to force Iraq to acknowledge, step by step, the terms of a humiliating surrender.

Iraq's announcement Saturday of a Cabinet shake-up that appeared to give some executive powers to Saadoun Hammadi, a Shiite Muslim long associated with Saddam Hussein's rule, is not expected to evoke any modification of the conditions. (See story, Page 4.)

An American draft resolution circulated at the UN last week requires Iraq to agree to the destruction of all its ballistic missiles as well as stocks of chemical and biological agents and nuclear weapons-grade material.

Iraq, under international supervision, will have to dismantle all research, development, support, and manufacturing facilities, and undertake not to develop any of these weapons in the future.

Arab diplomats, including some from the US-led coalition, complained bitterly at the UN that Iraq must not be the only country in the Middle East to demilitarize, but a Soviet specialist argued that Iraq - as the only country in the world to use chemical weapons in the past 60 years - is a special case.

The proposed resolution would have the Security Council decide that the 1963 boundary, which Iraq has never ratified, would become the international border between Iraq and Kuwait.

The draft text would impose an unequal demilitarized zone along the border, to be patrolled by UN observers: 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) inside Iraq, 5 kilometers inside Kuwait.

The plan would lift the embargo on Iraqi oil sales, but at the same time determine that a percentage of Iraq's oil revenues must be paid into a fund to compensate countries with claims resulting from Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait.

It would impose a ban on all arms sales to Iraq, and review remaining sanctions against Iraq every 60 days. Iraq would also be required to renounce terrorism.

Iraq's ambassador to the UN, Abdul Amir al-Anbari, said it would be "not only difficult, but impossible" for Iraq to comply with these terms. Ambassador Al-Anbari said that "the outrageous compensation will cripple and impoverish Iraqis, not only the present generation but future generations as well."

Yemen's ambassador Abdalla al-Ashtal complained that "compensation should be fairer and should take into account the destruction that has been wrought upon Iraq."

Members of the Security Council decided Friday on the basis of a UN report that human suffering in postwar Iraq had reached such proportions that food should be allowed past a continuing air and sea embargo with a minimum of red tape.

Undersecretary-General Martti Ahtisaari, who led a team of UN experts on a week-long mission to Iraq, said in the report that "nothing we had seen or read had quite prepared us for the particular form of devastation which has now befallen the country. The recent conflict has wrought near-apocalyptic results upon the economic infrastructure 201> most means of modern life support have been destroyed or rendered tenuous."

Governments or humanitarian agencies wishing to send foodstuffs to Iraq no longer need to ask permission of the Council's sanctions committee - but they must give notification of each shipment.

Mr. Ahtisaari reported that Iraq agreed to permit representatives of international organizations to supervise distribution of food to ensure that it reaches all areas of the country, including regions controlled by Kurdish rebels in the north and Shiite rebels in the south. Iraq had previously resisted any supervision, saying that it infringed on the country's sovereignty.

BY the Council's decision on Friday, transportation, refrigeration, or communications and logistical equipment needed to supply food aid - and emergency fuel supplies to run that equipment - may be sent to Iraq only if no member of the sanctions committee objects.

In a previous decision, the Security Council authorized reconstruction aid for damage in Kuwait only, but none for Iraq. However, the sanctions committee did approve an International Red Cross shipment to Iraq of emergency equipment for water purification and sanitation. The shipment was classified as medical supplies, and those have always been exempt from the UN sanctions.

The Council Friday also effectively permitted the import of agricultural equipment and supplies needed to ensure future Iraqi harvests.

Diplomats report that Ahtisaari told the sanctions committee in a closed-door briefing Friday that he had been given a list of food stored in warehouses around the world that had been bought and paid for by Iraq before the embargo. This, he said, could be shipped to Iraq immediately while other humanitarian relief is being mobilized.

Ahtisaari later told journalists that the UN would make an international appeal for voluntary donations to pay the expenses of the relief effort.

In accordance with Kuwaiti and coalition demands, Iraq notified the UN that the Revolutionary Command Council's March 5th decision to rescind the annexation of Kuwait was published in the official gazette on March 18, and ratified by the National Assembly on March 20.