Iraq: Compliance, Sanctions, and U.S. Policy
Support for International Terrorism/September 11
Resolution 687 required Iraq to end support for international terrorism, and Iraq made
a declaration to that effect to the U.N. Security Council. Iraq remains on the U.S. list of
state sponsors of terrorism, and according to the State Department’s report on international
terrorism for 2000, continues to harbor the Abu Nidal Organization and the Palestine
Liberation Front of Abu Abbas. In March 2002, Iraq also said that the Palestinians need
additional arms to conduct military operations against Israel. Some press reports say that
U.S. intelligence has received reports that Iraqi officials have, in the past, met with some of
the September 11 hijackers and with bin Laden himself. An article in the March 25, 2002
edition of The New Yorker alleged that Al Qaeda members were relocating to northern Iraq
and have contact with Iraqi intelligence, although U.S. officials did not lend credence to the
article’s assertions. Partly based on these reports, some U.S. officials have argued that the
United States should take military or other action against Iraq to oust Saddam Husayn. (See
CRS Report RL31119, Terrorism: Near Eastern Groups and State Sponsors, 2002.)
Iraq-Kuwait Issues
Resolution 1284 requires reports on the issues discussed below. However, in contrast
to Resolution 687, Resolution 1284 does not make the easing of any sanctions contingent
upon Iraqi compliance on these Kuwait-related issues.
Border Delineation and Security/Kuwaiti Sovereignty
Resolution 687 required Iraq to annul its annexation of Kuwait, directed the U.N.
Secretary-General to demarcate the Iraq-Kuwait border, and established a demilitarized zone
10 kilometers into Iraq and 5 kilometers into Kuwait. Resolution 773 (August 26, 1992)
endorsed border decisions taken by the Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission
(established May 2, 1991); on November 23, 1992, the Commission finished demarcating the
Iraq-Kuwait border as described in an October 1963 agreement between Iraq and Kuwait.
The border took effect January 15, 1993. The demarcation deprived Iraq of part of the port
of Umm Qasr and a strip of the Rumaylah oil field, which straddles the border. On March 18,
1993, the Commission determined the sea border, allowing both countries access to the Gulf,
and its final report was accepted by the U.N. Secretary General on May 20, 1993. Resolution
833 (May 27, 1993) demanded that Iraq and Kuwait accept the final border demarcation. On
November 10, 1994, Iraq formally recognized Kuwait in a motion signed by Saddam Husayn,
but Iraqi officials routinely make statements that Kuwait interprets as threatening. At the
Arab summit in Beirut (March 27-29, 2002), Iraq reaffirmed its commitment to Kuwait and
pledged to cooperate to determine the fate of missing Kuwaitis (see below), earning Iraq an
Arab statement of opposition to a U.S. attack on Iraq and a step toward reconciliation with
Kuwait.
The 32-nation U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM), established by
Resolutions 687 and 689 April 9, 1991), continues to monitor border violations. The United
States contributes 11 personnel to the 197 observers in UNIKOM, which is commanded (as
of December 1, 1997) by an Irish officer and is considered a U.N. peacekeeping operation.
Under Resolution 806 (February 5, 1993), passed after Iraqi incursions into the demilitarized
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