Stewart Stogel
Thursday April 17, 2003

Neither the State Dept. nor the U.N. would officially confirm Duelfer's arrival in the Iraqi capital.

From 1998-2000, Duelfer headed the U.N.-Iraq inspection effort. Before then, he was the deputy to chief inspectors Rolf Ekeus and later Richard Butler.

During Duelfer's tenure, the government of Saddam Hussein barred U.N. inspectors from Iraq. This was also the period the White House believes the Iraqi regime reactivated most of its prohibited weapons programs.

Duelfer left the U.N. in March 2000 when the Security Council dissolved UNSCOM and replaced it with a new inspection organization, the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) headed by Hans Blix.

Until last summer, Duelfer had been a research fellow at a Washington think tank.

It is believed that White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, a friend of the former inspector, tapped him to lead the new inspection effort.

Duelfer is best remembered for leading a group of U.N. inspectors and Security Council ambassadors in a search of Saddam's Republican Palace in Baghdad in February 1998.

That inspection had been the source of a simmering standoff between the U.N. and Iraq. Eventually, access was granted under the terms of a personal agreement between U.N. chief Kofi Annan and Saddam Hussein.

That became known as the "Memorandum of Understanding."

The subsequent inspection turned up little of substance.

One Council ambassador, Antonio Monteiro (Portugal), claimed that while no secret weapons were found he was "impressed by the Italian marble walls and floors and the number of new VCR's in the palace."

U.S. Marines, who now occupy the same complex, have many of the same observations, especially the rooms of Italian marble.

In November 2002, the U.S. successfully led a Council effort to repudiate the Annan-Saddam agreement which had given the so-called "presidential-sensitive" sites special status.

The same Republican Palace is now under consideration as the home for a new U.S. headquarters in Iraq.

Duelfer was less known for being a secret conduit or back channel between the Iraqi government and the Clinton Administration.

On numerous occasions, Duelfer was used by then Iraqi U.N. ambassador Nizar Hamdoon to pass "unofficial" messages to Washington.

Hamdoon, a protege of Saddam Hussein, had a reputation of being the Iraqi leader's private "troubleshooter."

The contacts with the Iraqi diplomat had been a source of tension between U.N. arms chief Richard Butler and Duelfer. Butler believed the meetings between a U.N. official and Iraq on behalf of a particular member state were inappropriate.

Hamdoon had been instructed by senior officials in Baghdad to see if "an accommodation" could be reached with the White House.

Unfortunately for Iraq, Secretary of State Madeleine K, Albright never changed the U.S. position: "Saddam and his associates had to go before Washington would deal."

It is unclear how long Duelfer will remain in Iraq or how long the U.S. inspection effort will last.

Under Security Council resolutions, UNMOVIC is the only organization empowered to conduct such inspections. It also the only body that can advise the Council to lift economic sanctions imposed shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

A formal report from UNMOVIC that Iraq is compliance with all Council resolutions is mandated before the economic embargo can be terminated.

Hans Blix is expected to discuss this and other issues when he meets the Security Council members next week.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Saddam Hussein/Iraq
United Nations