Inspectors Set Up New Iraq Base as Troops Mass

04/01/2003| IslamWeb

U.N. arms inspectors set up a new base in northern Iraq on Saturday to speed up the hunt for alleged banned weapons as more U.S. and British troops prepared to join comrades already massed in the Gulf. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri accused the United States of trying to destabilize Iraq by supporting Iraqi exiles whom he described as "mercenaries and terrorists."

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan , Sabri said a U.S. plan to train exiled Iraqis to take part in a post-Saddam Hussein administration was an aggression that broke international laws.

"Bush's administration is supporting mercenaries and terrorists to destabilize the political situation and the social security  in Iraq," said the letter, published in Baghdad's press.

Washington has threatened war if Iraq does not give up alleged chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. But Saddam denies having such armory and says the U.N. inspections will expose American claims as lies.

Addressing thousands of cheering soldiers in his home state of Texas on Friday, President Bush  said a war against Iraq would be one of liberation, not conquest.

"Should Saddam seal his fate by refusing to disarm, by ignoring the opinion of the world, you'll be fighting not to conquer anybody but to liberate people," he told the troops.

Defense officials said the Pentagon  had ordered some units of the U.S. 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to go to the Gulf.

The troops, together with more than 11,000 infantry soldiers based in Georgia, and specialists based in Germany will join nearly 60,000 U.S. military personnel already in the region.

Washington's staunchest ally Britain will send more than 20,000 troops and mobilize 7,000 reservists next week, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Saturday.

INSPECTORS FAN OUT With the drums of war beating louder, a team of U.N. weapons inspectors traveled to the city of Mosul, 220 miles north of Baghdad to set up a permanent regional office from where they would launch inspections in northern Iraq.

"This will help us expand and accelerate our inspections throughout the country, but particularly in the north," U.N. inspectors' spokesman Hiro Ueki told reporters before leaving to Mosul with the team.

The inspectors must report their findings to the Security Council by January 27. Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix will make an interim report to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

The council passed a resolution in November demanding Iraq give a full account of its weapons programs and cooperate with weapons inspectors, as required by resolutions stemming from the 1991 Gulf War , or face tough consequences.

Teams from the U.N. Monitoring, Inspection and Verification Commission (UNMOVIC) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited at least five sites on Saturday, including a brewery that produces the spirit arak.

Inspections are now in their sixth week but the experts have yet to disclose any evidence of banned weapons programs.
Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul flew to Syria on Saturday at the start of a tour of Middle East countries looking for ways to head off a war in neighboring Iraq that he likened to a "Pandora's box."

NATO member Turkey is expected to offer airspace and logistical support for the United States. However Ankara has been dragging its feet over making a firm commitment, hoping to avoid war and the political and economic turmoil it may bring.

"Iraq is like a Pandora's box... This box should not be opened. Iraq should not be scattered because it would not be possible to put everyone back in again," Gul said in an interview with Aksam newspaper before he left for Syria, Egypt and Jordan.

Gul said the chief responsibility for avoiding a war lay with Saddam. But Baghdad says it has done all it can to accommodate inspectors who it says have found nothing incriminating after visiting at least 230 sites.

PHOTO CAPTION

President George W. Bush  addresses a gathering of military troops and families January 3, 2003 at Fort Hood, Texas. More American troops prepared to join the tens of thousands already massed in the Gulf and Bush told cheering soldiers a war against Iraq would be one of liberation, not conquest. (Mike Theiler/Reuters)