The team includes representatives from all but three of the U.N. Security Council's 15 members and officials from all five permanent members. The group was ordered to travel to Bahrain this weekend.
Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, appointed by U.N. chief Kofi Annan to organize the group, gave no indication when the inspections will begin.
The group will accompany U.N. weapons inspectors to eight Iraqi "presidential sites." The action, included in a memorandum of understanding Annan worked out with Iraq on Feb. 23, was agreed upon in response to Iraq's demand that the inspectors show respect for "national dignity and sovereignty."
The diplomats won't be trained and will merely ensure that the procedures that Iraq agreed upon are implemented in good faith, Dhanapala said.
"We won't be millstones around anybody's neck," he said.
Dhanapala told a news conference that the timing of visits will be at the discretion of UNSCOM, the U.N. special commission in charge of the inspections, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The diplomatic group is to submit its own report on the visit, but it will be forwarded to Annan via chief arms inspector Richard Butler.
03-20-98
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