Inspectors Cite Progress on Iraq Mission

01/03/2003| IslamWeb

U.N. weapons inspectors reported progress Saturday in two key issues that had spurred claims Iraq was stalling on disarmament: interviews with Iraqi scientists and the destruction of outlawed Al Samoud 2 missiles. An Iraqi official said Iraq destroyed four of the missiles Saturday as ordered by U.N. weapons inspectors. Chief inspector Hans Blix had said the missiles fly farther than limits set by the United Nations .

A spokesman for the U.N. weapons inspectors, Hiro Ueki, said he could not confirm the report that the missiles had been destroyed and said a team of inspectors was headed out to verify the Iraqi claims.

Ueki also said Saturday that inspectors conducted a private interview with an Iraqi biologist Friday, the first such interview since Feb. 7. Scientists had previously refused to allow private interviews or demanded that the sessions be taped.

Arab leaders meeting in Egypt increased pressure on Iraq to cooperate with the weapons inspectors. The United Arab Emirates submitted a proposal at the Arab League summit urging Iraqi President Saddam Hussein  and the rest of his leadership to give up power.

The call defied long-standing resistance among Arab leaders to meddling in each others' domestic affairs.

The latest developments, particularly Iraq's new progress, were expected to influence an address next week by Blix to the deeply divided U.N. Security Council, which is considering a U.S.-led resolution that would authorize war against Iraq for not complying with the inspections.

U.S. and British leaders said Iraq still won't agree to completely disarm. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer  called Iraq's decision to destroy the missiles "the deception the president predicted.

"We do expect that they will destroy at least some of their missiles," but President Bush  wants only full disarmament, he said Friday. Fleischer also re-emphasized the U.S. policy in place since the Clinton administration that it wants regime change, though Saddam's stepping down is not required in any U.N. resolution.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair  also was skeptical and said Saddam still must account for tons of biological weapons he said Saddam had in 1998.

Blix called the decision to start destroying the missiles "a very significant piece of real disarmament." But Blix still said in a report to the United Nations Security Council that Baghdad needs to provide more information about its chemical, biological and missile programs.

Blix's report Friday said Iraq missed an opportunity to resolve questions about its weapons programs in December, saying a 12,000-page declaration provided "little new substantive information."

A tense U.N. Security Council debate continued over the resolution to authorize war and a French-led proposal to continue weapons inspections. Russia said it would veto the U.S. resolution if needed.

Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri accused Americans and the British of using the United Nations "as justification, as a cover for their war."

"We are doing utmost to avert this war through the United Nations, but at the same time we are preparing ourselves for such eventuality," he said.

European governments opposed to war said Iraq's decision on the missiles proved that continued weapons inspections were preferable to war.

In northern Iraq, Kurdish leaders said they would resist if the United States lets Turks join an invasion.

"Nothing whatsoever will persuade us to accept an incursion of Turkish forces," said Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister Sami Abdul Rahman.

PHOTO CAPTION

A U.N. weapon inspectors vehicle drives past a large portrait of president Saddam Hussein at the entrance of a warehouse of Tareq bin Ziad company in Faluja some 110 Kms (68 miles) west of Baghdad Saturday March 1, 2003. (AP Photo/Ali Mohammed