Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday afternoon opened the Security Council open debate on Iraq

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday afternoon opened the Security Council open debate on Iraq, which continued this morning, by saying that “all of us must regret that our intensive efforts to achieve a peaceful solution, through this Council, did not succeed,” and by calling for the Council to “rediscover its unity of purpose.” He said that many people ask why the Iraqi Government did not take full advantage of the last chance it was given by the Security Council to disarm, while at the same time, many are seriously questioning whether it was legitimate for some Member States to proceed to such a fateful action now without first reaching a collective decision in the Security Council. He warned that the inability of the Council to agree earlier on a collective course of action places an even greater burden on it today. He drew particular attention to the need to protect the civilian population, the wounded and prisoners of war, and to bring relief to the victims. He noted the concerted effort in the Council to reach agreement on adjustments to the “oil-for-food” program, adding his hope that it would soon succeed. The United Nations will also launch a “flash appeal” to donors soon, he said The Secretary-General also underscored two guiding principles that should underpin all future decisions on Iraq: respect for Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence; and respect for the right of the Iraqi people to determine their own political future and control their own natural resources.