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[Original: Arabic]
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
"Go to Pharaoh; he has overstepped the bounds. But speak to him with gentle words so that hopefully he will pay heed or show some fear"
Almighty God has spoken the truth.

His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General of the United Nations
New York, N.Y.

Sir,
You may recall the enormous uproar created by the President of the United States of America in the greatest and most wicked slander against Iraq, in which he was followed in his malicious intent and preceded in word and infliction of harm by his lackey Tony Blair, when they spread the rumour that Iraq might have produced or might have been on the way to producing nuclear weapons during the period since 1998 in which the international inspectors were absent. They later asserted that Iraq had indeed produced chemical and biological weapons, though they know as well as we do, and other States are in a position to know, that this is a an utterly unfounded fabrication. But does knowledge of the truth even enter into the vocabulary of political interaction in our time, after evil has been unleashed to the fullest within the American administration and any hope of good has been dashed? Indeed, is there any good to be expected or hoped for from American administrations now that they have been transformed by their greed, by Zionism and by other well-known factors into the false god of our time?
After some States and the public were taken in by this lie, while others remained silent, Iraq confronted them with its consent to the return of the international inspectors after agreeing with you, as representative of the United Nations in New York, on 16 September 2002, and in a press statement issued jointly in Vienna on 30 September/1 October 2002 by an Iraqi technical delegation headed by Amer Al-Saadi, Chief Inspector Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Yet a few hours after Iraq's consent to the return of the inspectors became an established fact, including agreement on 19 October 2002 as the date of their arrival, Colin Powell, the American Secretary of State, declared that he would refuse to have the inspectors go to Iraq. The gang of evil began once again to talk of the need to adopt a new resolution in order to entertain the people of the world with something new, rather than following the teams of inspectors and witnessing the facts stated by Iraq, namely that it neither had produced nor possessed any nuclear, chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction during the absence of the inspectors. The officials in the international Organization and its agencies, however, and especially those from the permanent members of the Security Council, rather than engaging in such monitoring so as to expose those responsible for their lies and false accusations, busied themselves with discussions of the nature and wording of the new resolution. They would strike or add a letter here and letter there, a word here and a word there, until they reached agreement, on the argument that it was better to take the kicks of a raging bull in a small ring than to face its horns in an open space. This took place under the pressure of the American administration and its threats to withdraw from the international Organization unless it agreed to what America wanted, which was at best evil in the extreme and a reason for embarrassment for every honest and free member of the international Organization who recalls the provisions of the Charter and sees that there are some who feel shame on behalf of those members who are shameless.
We have told members of the Security Council whom we have contacted or who have contacted us, when they spoke to us of the pretexts of the Americans and their threats of aggression against our country, either by themselves or with whomever might stand with them if the Security Council did not agree to what they wanted, that we preferred, if it was inevitable, to have America alone attack us and to confront it, placing our trust in God, rather than having it obtain international cover with which to camouflage its lies in whole or in part, bringing falsehood closer to the truth so that it might stab the truth with the dagger of evil and perfidy. Indeed, we have confronted it before, at a time when it could be characterized the same way, and that was one of the reasons for its isolation in the human environment all over the globe.
America's aggressiveness and single-handed infliction of injustice and destruction on its victims, chief among them Muslim and Arab believers, constitute the main reason for its withdrawing its ambassadors and other staff, closing its embassies and limiting its interests in many parts of the world, in addition to the hatred of the peoples of the world for its aggressive policies and objectives. This is a situation which no other country in the world has experienced before, not even the fathers of colonialism in earlier times. Yet the Security Council, or more exactly those who basically run it, instead of leaving the American administration and its lackey, behind whom stands hateful Zionism, to reap the consequences of the evil they have sown, have saved iniquity rather than curbing it. We shall see, and then remorse will not be of any avail as they bite their fingers.
The influence of any international organization is based on the conviction and trust of the community in which it exists, once the organization declares that it has been established to serve goals important to that community. We fear that the United Nations will lose the trust and interest of peoples, if that has not already taken place, once it has been exhausted by powerful interests, wherever those interests converge at the expense of other peoples or flatter each other and haggle over what is false at the expense of what is true. Thus the United Nations and its agencies will collapse just as the League of Nations did before it. The responsibility for this will not rest on the American administration alone, but on all those who, in their weakness, work for its interests, yielding to its threats, enticements or promises.
He who fails to speak out the truth is a voiceless demon. Nothing is more distressing than the silence of the representatives of States in the Security Council during their discussion of the American draft in the face of the question raised by the representative of Mexico regarding the possibility of lifting the sanctions imposed on Iraq. During the consultations in the Security Council concerning resolution 1441 on 7 November 2002, the Mexican representative said that he was not satisfied with the explanations provided by the American ambassador concerning the absence of any reference to the lifting of the sanctions and the establishment in the Middle East of a zone free from weapons of mass destruction, adding that he would convey this to his Government in order to receive instructions. The British representative replied that he had listened to the statements of the delegations of Syria and Mexico regarding the inclusion in the resolution of a paragraph on the lifting of the sanctions. He said that Iraq had previously been afforded an opportunity to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction, but had ignored it and made a decision to keep them. Consequently, any reference to the lifting of the sanctions while Iraq still had such weapons was improper. Nevertheless, an indirect reference to that effect was being included. We should add that none of the representatives asked him when, how or where such an alleged decision had been taken by Iraq to keep weapons of mass destruction. The delegates treated the statement of the British representative as though it related to a matter that did not concern them, or rather, as though telling the truth was of no concern to them. Do not this and other things, together with the decline in the prestige of international organizations of this nature, point to the possibility of the collapse of this international Organization, which was founded to maintain international peace and security, but has turned into a kitchen for haggling over the interests of the big powers and for providing cover for war, destruction, blockades and the starvation of peoples?
The future will be determined in the light of the potential for reform, or the inability to achieve reform, as will the future of the United Nations. All those who show their concern in deed and not merely in word to foster this international Organization and its work on the basis of its Charter so that stability, justice and fairness prevail throughout the world as a route to peace, freedom and cooperation among peoples are called upon to exercise caution and act in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations and not at whim in accordance with the unrestrained tendencies of those who threaten the world with their weapons and evil endeavours and those who narrow-mindedly look to their own interests, which they seek to achieve by bargaining at the expense of truth, justice and fairness.
We know that those who pressed the case in the Security Council for the adoption of Security Council resolution 1441 (2002) have objectives other than to ascertain that Iraq has developed no weapons of mass destruction in the absence of the inspectors from Iraq since 1998. You are aware of how they left Iraq and who was the cause of their departure. Although we are aware that, following the widely known understanding between the representatives of Iraq and the Secretary-General and the press statement issued by Blix, El Baradei and the representatives of Iraq, there are no facts or principles of justice and fairness to necessitate the adoption of that resolution in the name of the Security Council, we hereby inform you that we will deal with resolution 1441 (2002), despite its iniquitous contents, even though it is to be implemented against the background of the intentions harboured by those of bad faith. Based as this is in an attempt to spare our people harm, we shall not forget, just as others should not forget, that the preservation of our people's dignity and of their security and independence within their homeland is a sacred and honourable national duty on the agenda of our leadership and our Government. The same is true of the protection of the homeland and its sovereignty, together with that of the people and their security, interests and high values, from antagonists and oppressors. Hence, as we said in the aforementioned agreement and press statement, we are ready to receive the inspectors so that they can perform their duties and ascertain that Iraq has produced no weapons of mass destruction in their absence from Iraq since 1998 under the circumstances known both to you and to the Security Council. We request you to inform the Security Council that we are ready to receive the inspectors in accordance with the established dates. All concerned parties should remember that we are in our holy month of Ramadan and that the people are fasting, and that after this month is a feast. The concerned bodies and officials, however, will cooperate with the inspectors against this entire background and that of the tripartite statement of France, the Russian Federation and China. The Government of Iraq will also take all of this into consideration when dealing with the inspectors and with all matters relating to their demeanour and the intentions of any one of them who demonstrates bad faith or an inappropriate approach to preserving the national dignity, independence and security of the people and the security, independence and sovereignty of the homeland. We are eager for them to accomplish their task in accordance with international law as soon as possible. If they do so in a professional and lawful manner, and without previously planned goals, the fabrications of the liars will be revealed to the public and the declared aim of the Security Council will be achieved. At that point, the Security Council will become legally obligated to lift the embargo from Iraq, failing which all persons of goodwill throughout the world, in addition to Iraq, will tell it to lift the embargo and all the other unjust sanctions from Iraq. Before the public and the law, the Council will be under obligation to apply paragraph 14 of its resolution 687 (1991) to the Zionist entity (Israel) and thereafter to the entire region of the Middle East so that it is free of weapons of mass destruction. The worldwide number of fair-minded persons will increase, together with Iraq's potential to drive from its environment the cawing of the crows of evil, who daily raid its lands, demolish its property and take the lives of those hit by their bombs, if not already claimed by the evil-doers themselves. When this happens, it will help to stabilize the region and the world, if accompanied by a solution not based on double standards to end the Zionist occupation of Palestine and if the aggressors desist from their attacks against Muslims and the world.
We therefore reiterate, through you, the same statement to the Security Council: send the inspectors to Iraq to ascertain as much and, if their conduct is thoroughly supervised to ensure that it is lawful and professional, everyone will be assured that Iraq has produced no nuclear, chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction, whatever allegations to the contrary are made by the evil pretenders. The fabrications of the liars and the deceit of the charlatans in the American and British administrations will be revealed before the world in contrast to the truthfulness of the proud Iraqis and the correctness of what they say and do. If, however, the opportunity is left for the whim of the American administration and the desires of Zionism, coupled with the followers, intelligence services, threats and foul inducements of each, to manipulate and play with the inspection teams and among their ranks, the picture will be muddled and the ensuing confusion will distort the facts and push matters in a dangerous direction, to the edge of the precipice, a situation wanted neither by the fair-minded nor by those, including my Government, who seek to uncover the facts as they stand. The fieldwork and the implementation will be the deciding factors as to whether the true intent was for the Security Council to ascertain that Iraq is free of those alleged weapons or whether the entire matter is nothing more than an evil cover for the authors of the resolution, with their vile slander and their shamelessness in lying to the public, including their own peoples.
So let the inspectors come to Baghdad to perform their duty in accordance with the law, whereupon we shall hear and see, together with those who hear, see and act, each in accordance with his obligations and rights as established in the Charter of the United Nations and international law. The final frame of reference continues to be resolution 687 (1991), which imposes obligations on the Security Council and Iraq, as well as the code of conduct contained in the agreement signed with the Secretary-General in New York on 16 September 2002 and the press statement issued jointly with Hans Blix and El Baradei in Vienna on 30 September-1 October 2002.
We hope that you will exercise your responsibilities by speaking to the oppressors and advising them that their unjust treatment of Muslims, faithful Arabs and all people has disastrous consequences and that God is omnipotent and capable of all things. Tell them that the people of Iraq are proud, faithful and militant, having fought and waged war against the former colonialism, imperialism and aggression, including that of the false god, for years and years. The price paid for the preservation of their independence, dignity and the high principles in which they believed was rivers of blood, together with a great deal of deprivation and damage to their wealth, alongside the immortal achievements and record in which they take pride. We hope that you will advise those who are ignorant not to push the situation to the edge of the precipice at the time of implementation, because the people of Iraq will not choose to live if the price is their dignity, their homeland, their freedom or the things sacrosanct to them. On the contrary, the price will be their lives if that is the only way forward to preserve what must be preserved.
Before concluding this letter of mine, I should like to inform you that I shall address a further detailed letter to you in due course, stating our comments on the procedures and measures contained in resolution 1441 (2002) that are inconsistent with international law, the Charter of the United Nations, the established facts and the requirements of previous relevant Security Council resolutions.
"Have you guaranteed that the One in heaven will not strike earth and cause it to tumble?"
Almighty God has spoken the truth.
God is great.

(Signed) Naji Sabri
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq
13 November 2002


WEB RESOURCES >>

UNMOVIC
United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission

UNSCOM
United Nations Special Commission on Iraq

White House on Iraq
"A Decade of Deception and Defiance: Saddam Hussein's Defiance of the United Nations"

White House Policy Page
White House's policies and papers on Iraq

Bush Address to U.N.
Address calling for a U.N. Resolution to disarm Iraq

U.N. Res. 1441
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 on disarming Iraq

U.N. Res. 1137
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 on the situation between Iraq and Kuwait

U.N. Res. 1051
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 on monitoring Iraqi imports and exports

U.N. Res. 986
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 on authorization of the Food for Oil program

U.N. Res. 687
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 on Kuwait's sovereignty

U.N. Res. 678
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 authorizing force to reverse Iraq's invasion of Kuwait

U.N. Security Council
Directory of United Nations Security Council Resolutions by year

Iraq on U.N. Res. 1441
Text of Iraq's Letter to the U.N. Accepting Resolution 1441

Iraq National Assembly
Official Homepage of the National Assembly of Iraq

Government of Iraq
Official Homepage of the Government of Iraq

Iraq's WMD
Britain's dossier on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction

Iraq's Human Rights Abuses
Iraq's Human Rights Abuses from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office

ALL WEB RESOURCES >>

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