- UNITED
NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States
dismissed Baghdad's agreement to destroy its al-Samoud 2 missiles and
pressed on with its war preparations against Iraq, deploying a sixth
aircraft carrier and B-2 stealth bombers.
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- As U.N. Security Council members argued bitterly
about whether to approve a war with Iraq, Baghdad said it agreed "in
principle" to begin destroying its ballistic missiles, which the
United Nations said were illegal because their range exceeded limits
set in 1991 U.N. resolutions.
-
- The government of President Saddam Hussein gave its
decision on the missiles by letter to chief U.N. weapons inspector
Hans Blix as he completed a crucial report to the council that
criticized Iraq for giving a "very limited" response to its
disarmament obligations.
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- Blix, in a leaked draft of a report expected to
reach council members over the weekend or on Monday, said that results
of three months of inspections had been problematic.
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- "Iraq could have made greater efforts to find any
remaining proscribed items or provide credible evidence showing the
absence of such items," Blix wrote. "The results in terms of
disarmament have been very limited so far."
-
- The Security Council's first meeting since the
introduction of a U.S.-British-Spanish resolution that laid the legal
ground work for war erupted into chaos. In addition to known
opposition to the resolution by France and Russia, smaller nations
demanded the big powers reach a common position.
-
- But no one budged. "There are two propositions,"
said French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere. "One says we have to
go to war. The other says 'no."'
-
- The meeting became so divisive that members could
not agree whether Blix should address the council on March 6 or
7.
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- Hours after the report was leaked, Iraq said it
agreed to start destroying its al-Samoud 2 missiles, as Blix as
ordered, because they were illegal by exceeding the permitted 150-km
(90-mile) range.
-
- In a letter to Blix, Iraq said it accepted "in
principle" the destruction of the missiles. But it said Blix's
decision was "unjust and did not take into consideration the
scientific facts regarding the issue."
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- "In order to establish a timetable and other
technical and procedural criteria required for implementation, we
suggest dispatching a technical team urgently for this purpose," the
letter added.
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- DISMISSAL AND DEPLOYMENT
-
- U.S. officials quickly dismissed the Iraqi
offer.
-
- "This is exactly what's been going on for years,"
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters in Washington. "Only
when finally something ends up as a possible problem for them in the
United Nations does he at the last minute throw in the towel and say,
'Well maybe I'll do that."'
-
- Navy officials said the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz,
based in San Diego, would head to the Gulf region on Monday. Five
other U.S. carriers, along with their battle groups of missile-firing
warships, are already in the Gulf and the Mediterranean, within
striking distance of Iraq.
-
- In addition, the Pentagon said several long-range,
radar-evading B-2 stealth bombers, each capable of carrying up to 20
2,000-pound (900-kg) satellite-guided bombs, were expected to leave in
the coming days.
-
- The Pentagon already has deployed B-1 bombers and
F-117 stealth fighters along with hundreds of other Air Force and Navy
planes as part of a massive military buildup near Iraq, including
about 200,000 ground troops and 8,000 sailors.
-
- Bush has said the United States will lead a
coalition of nations to disarm Iraq by force if necessary if Baghdad
does not comply with U.N. demands that it give up alleged banned
weapons of mass destruction.
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- DIVIDED COUNCIL
-
- At the Security Council, members met for the first
time since the introduction of a U.S.-British-Spanish resolution that
would authorize an invasion of Iraq.
-
- The resolution is not expected to come to a vote for
another two weeks but its adoption in the 15-member council would need
a minimum of nine votes in favor, with no veto from its five permanent
members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and
China.
-
- While the United States and Britain are pressing for
the new resolution, France, Russia and China want U.N. arms
inspections to continue for at least four more months.
-
- On Friday Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said
Russia opposed any resolution that would lead to a war to rid Iraq of
weapons of mass destruction and declined to rule out a Russian
veto.
-
- "Russia does not support any resolution which could
directly or indirectly open the way to an armed resolution of the Iraq
problem," Ivanov told a news conference in Beijing.
-
- "Naturally, Russia has the right of veto. If the
interest of international stability demands it, Russia, of course will
exercise its right," he said.
-
- Among the 10 members that are elected for two-year
terms, six including Chile and Mexico have come under intense pressure
by all sides to vote for or against the resolution.
-
- "This divided council is in fact throwing the
decision on the back of the elected members while the permanent
members stick to their positions without making efforts to approximate
their views," Chilean Ambassador Gabriel Valdes said.
-
- Washington's strategy is to get the minimum nine
votes needed to adopt the resolution and then dare any veto-bearing
nation, such as Russia, China or France, to kill the
resolution.
-
- France has the reverse strategy: if the United
States does not get the nine votes, it would be spared making a
decision about whether or not to veto the measure.
-
- In London, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told The
Times in an interview published on Friday he was confident the second
resolution would be approved.
-
- Straw hinted at some flexibility over the wording of
the new resolution.
-
- "We are attached to the principle behind the
resolution but we are up for negotiation on it," he said.
-
- "I think we should get it. I am very confident that
the argument for a second resolution is overwhelming, especially for
those who signed up to the first resolution," he said.
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- Copyright 2003 Reuters News Service. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.
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