-Caveat Lector-
>From http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,707382,00.html
>>Next stop Israel?<<
}}}>Begin
Iraq ready to let weapons inspectors back in
Ewen MacAskill in Baghdad
Tuesday April 30, 2002
The Guardian
Iraq is preparing to back down on its refusal to allow UN weapons inspectors to
return to the country in the hope that this will avert a US attack.
The US and Britain have led calls for Iraq to permit the UN weapons inspectors to
establish whether Saddam Hussein is hiding biological and chemical weapons and
developing a nuclear capability.
Iraqi willingness to cave in, after more than two years blocking the entry of the
inspectors, comes amid reports that the US is planning an invasion of Iraq early next
year.
The Iraqi foreign minister, Naji Sabri al-Hadithi, is to begin three days of talks in
New
York tomorrow with the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, to discuss the weapons
inspectors and sanctions.
According to a participant in discussions at the Iraqi foreign ministry in recent days,
the Iraqi government will compromise, though it may try to string out the negotiations.
"I think it is now very likely that the inspectors will return," the participant said.
Both President Saddam and his deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, are said to be
extremely worried about the threats from the White House. The Iraqi government is
said to believe that any attack will be by missiles but does not know whether the
targets will be confined to military, presidential and ministry sites or will include
civilian infrastructure, such as power plants.
The UN weapons inspectors, who first went into Iraq after the 1991 Gulf war, spent
seven years checking whether Saddam had a hidden arsenal. They left before the
US and Britain bombed Baghdad in 1998.
Both the US and Britain insist that Saddam has built up his arsenal in the absence of
the inspectors. Iraq denies it.
Mr al-Hadithi will tell Mr Annan that the weapons inspectors can return but will try to
set conditions. The main one is that the inspections be time-limited rather than, as
previously, indefinite. Another condition is that they are not allowed into Saddam's
presidential palaces.
The Iraqis may be willing to back down on the second condition. The participant in
the foreign ministry talks said that the inspectors had been allowed in before: "It is
nonsense to think that Saddam would sleep above a pile of biological and chemical
weapons."
In the talks with Mr Annan, the Iraqi government will press him to be even-handed,
claiming it is a breach of international law for President George Bush to declare he
wants to overthrow the head of another sovereign state.
Mr al-Hadithi will also challenge Mr Annan on the legitimacy of US and British planes
attacking Iraqi positions and the continuation of sanctions, which are under the
auspices of the UN but are only vigorously pursed by the US and Britain.
Also on the agenda for New York is a new set of sanctions, in which almost all goods
other than military would be allowed through. Iraq opposes this, claiming the UN
would still retain control over Iraqi spending.
Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
End<{{{
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