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http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/today/others/for3.htm The Nation (Pakistan) September 18, 2002 Iraq surrenders, but drums of war continue >From Humayun Akhtar -Secretary General Kofi Annan announced Baghdad�s decision after receiving a letter from the Iraqi foreign minister, Naji Sabri, and credited Mr. Bush and pressure from Arab leaders for Iraq�s apparent change of heart. �I believe the president�s speech galvanized the international community,� Mr. Annan said. NEW YORK�After a flurry of rumours and the din of rattling sabres, Kofi Annan last night received letter of surrender from Baghdad; Iraqi President Saddam Hussein accepts the return of United Nations weapons inspectors to his country. But, both the United States and British pilots continued a beefed-up campaign of attacks on Iraqi air-defence installations, while British forces carried out a pair of major exercises, setting up a remote air base and testing logistical capabilities, the sorts of skills that would be required for an invasion of Iraq, according to military analysts. For the second time in a week, President Bush warned his Iraqi counterpart that military action to force him from power would go ahead with or without the approval of the United Nations and with or without absolute proof that Iraq is building offensive weaponry. Iraq intimated that it would allow international weapons inspectors to return �without conditions.� Secretary General Kofi Annan announced Baghdad�s decision after receiving a letter from the Iraqi foreign minister, Naji Sabri, and credited Mr. Bush and pressure from Arab leaders for Iraq�s apparent change of heart. �I believe the president�s speech galvanized the international community,� Mr. Annan said, referring to Mr. Bush�s speech at the United Nations on Thursday. Kofi Annan also credited the Arab League, and particularly its secretary general, Amr Moussa of Egypt, with �strenuous efforts� that persuaded Saddam Hussein to relent on his ban of the inspectors. Kofi Annan said Baghdad had agreed to �immediate discussions� to work out the logistics for weapons inspection teams to start work in Iraq. It was not clear when the inspectors could actually return. But, the Bush administration and Britain voiced skepticism about the Iraqi offer. Administration officials said the United States was still determined to seek a strong resolution demanding Iraqi compliance with past resolutions and threatening to act if Baghdad failed to do so. Iraq�s offer followed signs of mounting military pressure. Administration officials said today that British and American warplanes were bombing major air defenses there while patrolling no-flight zones. In addition, there was continuing pressure on the Security Council from Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to demand Iraq�s full cooperation with renewed weapons inspections. �This is a tactical step by Iraq in hopes of avoiding strong UN Security Council action,� said Scott McClellan, the deputy White House spokesman. �As such, it is a tactic that will fail.� He added: �It is time for the Security Council to act.� A senior State Department official told The New York Times, Iraq�s letter was �not a promise to disarm, not a promise to allow unfettered inspections, not a promise to disclose the state of its weapons program.� The United States clashed today with France, one of its closest allies, over how the Security Council should proceed, as Paris insisted on a two-stage approach that would postpone any threat of military action for several weeks at least. Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, forcefully arguing France�s position at a midday news conference, outlined a plan for an initial Council resolution that would only require Iraq to allow the weapons inspections without spelling out any consequences if Baghdad does not comply. France, one of the five permanent, veto-bearing members of the Council, wants to hold off until later a resolution to authorize the use of military force, depending on how the weapons inspections proceed. The French plan runs counter to the proposal that Secretary Powell advocated in a day of continual meetings and intense lobbying at the United Nations, reports the NYT. Administration officials said they were seeking one resolution that would both require Iraq�s complete cooperation for the inspections and also refer to the consequences of noncompliance, leaving Washington wide leeway to decide if and when to begin a military assault on Iraq. �We cannot go for two hares at the same time,� Mr. de Villepin said, referring to the two proposed resolution elements that are in dispute. �We should look for one, and we get one. If we look for two, we won�t catch any one.� He argued that the resolution should focus tightly on stopping Iraq�s violations of Security Council measures to curb weapons proliferation, and not range into suggestions of overthrowing Mr. Hussein. Referring to the war to oust the Taliban from Afghanistan, he warned that Iraq �is not as easy as other targets� for a military operation. He also said an attack on Mr. Hussein could inflame public opinion in the Arab world if it is not seen as having the support of the full Security Council. France said it could persuade the Council to adopt unanimously the first resolution it is proposing. Before word of the Iraqi offer arrived, American officials said they hoped to begin detailed talks in the Security Council by Wednesday, with the goal of circulating draft language of a resolution by week�s end. Late today Russia welcomed Iraq�s agreement for the unconditional return of the arms inspectors, saying that the possibility of military action had been avoided, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday. Diplomats said Iraq�s gesture to receive the weapons inspectors could slow the pace of events more than Washington has intended. Once they are on the ground, the inspectors will be governed by a specific timetable set out in Council resolution 1284, which reorganized the inspections program in 1999. Under the terms of that resolution, the inspectors, once on the ground, would have to report back to the Security Council within 60 days to lay out a work plan, identifying lines of investigation they want to pursue. The resolution then gives them six months to reach preliminary conclusions about whether Iraq is developing prohibited weapons. Inspection Teams The UN inspectors work in two teams. One, which investigates for evidence that Iraq has biological and chemical weapons and long-range missiles that are prohibited, is based in New York and headed by Hans Blix. The inspectors who will hunt for signs of a nuclear weapons program are based in Vienna in the Iraq action team of the International Atomic Energy Agency, headed by Jacques Baute. Both team leaders have said they are ready to begin work in Iraq as soon as the logistical arrangements for their communications, transportation, laboratories and lodging there can be arranged. The biological and chemical weapons team based in New York has a staff of 63 experts of 27 nationalities. All are fully trained and briefed about Iraq�s past weapons programs, based on information gathered by earlier teams. About 200 more trained experts are on call so they can be put to work within a matter of weeks. The program is financed, receiving eight-tenths of 1 percent of the revenues from Iraq�s oil sales, which are monitored by the United Nations. The Iraq action team for nuclear inspections in Vienna now includes about 16 members, Mr. Baute said recently, adding that he planned to expand it by about five experts when it came time to return to Iraq. Iraq�s Letter Following is the text of the letter from Iraqi Foreign Affairs Minister Naji Sabri to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan: Dear Secretary-General, I have the honour to refer to the series of discussions held between Your Excellency and the Government of the Republic of Iraq on the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions on the question of Iraq, which took place in New York on 7 March and 2 May and in Vienna on 4 July, 2002, as well as the talks which were held in your office in New York on 14 and 15 September, 2002, with the participation of the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. I am pleased to inform you of the decision of the Government of the Republic of Iraq to allow the return of the United Nations weapons inspectors to Iraq without conditions. The Government of the Republic of Iraq has responded, by this decision, to your appeal, to the appeal of the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, as well as those of Arab, Islamic and other friendly countries. The Government of the Republic of Iraq has based its decision concerning the return of inspectors on its desire to complete the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and to remove any doubts that Iraq still possesses weapons of mass destruction. This decision is also based on your statement to the General Assembly on 12 September, 2002, that the decision by the Government of the Republic of Iraq is the indispensable first step towards an assurance that Iraq no longer possesses weapons of mass destruction and, equally importantly, towards a comprehensive solution that includes the lifting of sanctions imposed in Iraq and the timely implementation of other provisions of the relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolution 687(1991). To this end, the Government of the Republic of Iraq is ready to discuss the practical arrangements necessary for the immediate resumption of inspections. In this context, the Government of the Republic of Iraq reiterates the importance of the commitment of all Member States of the Security Council and the United Nations to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Iraq, as stipulated in the relevant Security Council resolutions and article (II) of the Charter of the United Nations. I would be grateful if you would bring this letter to the attention of the Security Council members. Please accept, Mr. Secretary-General the assurances of my highest consideration. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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