U.N. Security Council Resolution 687

Passed on April 3, 1991 at the 2981st meeting of the UN Security Council. In summary, the following sanctions were imposed upon the country of Iraq.

• Called for a cease-fire in the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait.
• Restore friendly relations between Kuwait.
• Recognize the border between Iraq and Kuwait.
• Allow UN inspectors to go to Iraq and enforce the border sanctions.
• Withdraw all troops from Kuwait
• Cease operations in the production of biological weapons.
• Disclose to inspectors all locations and types of biological weapons. This is to be done within 15 days of adoption.
• Have inspectors come on site and dismantle any weapons facilities found within 90 days of adoption.
• Iraq is prohibited from acquiring new weapons of mass destruction or research to develop new weapons.
• Dismantle any nuclear weapons and production facilities within 45 days
• Return all seized Kuwaiti property to Kuwait
• Iraq is held responsible for damage done to other nations and must pay any foreign debts incurred during their occupation of Kuwait
• Iraq may only trade its resources for food to feed its citizens and medicine.
• Member nations of the UN may not offer weapons for sale to Iraq.
• Return or disclose the fate of all POWs captured during the occupation of Kuwait and earlier to their native countries.
• Iraq may not sponsor or support any act of international terrorism.

source: gopher://gopher.undp.org/00/undocs/scd/scouncil/s91/4

The Gulf War Ceasefire

Major components:
1) Adoption under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter (Binding for all nations.)
2) Restitution to Kuwait, release of detainees, return of Kuwaiti property, recognition of Kuwaiti sovereignty, and a resolve to live in peace with Iraq’s neighbours.
3) Establishment of a U.N inspection regime with an estimated timetable of 90 to 180 days
4) Draconian sanctions would remain in place until these requirements were complied with.

The Iraqi regime, under Saddam Hussein, did not comply with this Security Council Resolution. On June 30th, 1991 Saddam secretly formed a Concealment Operations Committee, chaired by his younger son, Qusayy Saddam. The same month, inspectors under the resourceful David Kay discovered an Iraqi program to enrich uranium with huge magnets. In July, several kilos of highly enriched uranium were discovered with large stocks of natural, unenriched uranium. Iraq also gave supplies of Scud missiles, many loaded with chemical and biological weapons, over to the Special Republican Guard for concealment from the inspectors. Iraq kept teams of scientists and engineers working together on WMD projects but hidden within innocuous looking government agencies. In May 1992, Iraq was forced to confess that it had a biological warfare program.

Sources:
Pollack, Kenneth. The Threatening Storm. New York: Random House Books, 2002.