Iraq Wants Talks With UN On Arms Inspections

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - A top Iraqi official said in remarks broadcast on Thursday that Baghdad was ready to discuss the return of U.N. arms inspectors provided the talks are not preceded by any conditions.

In what appeared to be another bid by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government to stave off a possible U.S. strike, Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan told Abu Dhabi Television in an interview Iraq was "open for dialogue" with the United Nations

But he also said Baghdad was preparing for the "worst" in case Washington decided to attack its 1991 Gulf War foe. "We do not believe dialogue...with the (U.N.) secretariat is over," he said. "We believe dialogue without preset decisions and intentions is the correct and only way to solve any problem.

"Another date for the next round has not been set due to U.S. pressure but we say that this dialogue is still standing and necessary," he added in the pre-recorded interview.

Yassin's comments followed similar remarks by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al Sahaf who said in another interview broadcast this week that Iraq was willing to discuss the inspections and other issues with the United Nations.

Iraq held three rounds of talks this year with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss the inspectors' return.

Earlier this month, it invited chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix to visit Baghdad for technical talks. But Annan rejected the offer, saying these talks could only take place after inspectors returned.

Iraq, which President Bush has placed in his "axis of evil," has issued mixed signals on the return of the inspectors who left Baghdad in 1998 amid spying charges.

The inspections are key to ending U.N. sanctions imposed on Baghdad after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Iraq has always maintained that the inspectors had completed their work before they left the country ahead of a joint U.S.-British air strike and denies U.S. charges that it had revived its weapons program.

In the interview, Ramadan accused the United States of using the inspections as a pretext to spy on Iraq, charging Blix with "speaking for the United States."

"If the mass destruction weapons have been destroyed what is the need for inspectors? To spy on the security of Iraq or to (satisfy) the wish of...the American administration," he said.

Baghdad allowed arms inspectors to oversee the destruction of its weapons of mass destruction facilities after the 1991 U.S.-led Gulf War.

Bush has threatened to topple Saddam, possibly through military force, because of Iraq's alleged weapons program.

On Thursday, key security adviser Condoleezza Rice said the United States had no choice but to take action against Saddam and U.S. officials held talks this week with Iraqi opposition groups in Washington to discuss Iraq's future.

Ramadan said Iraq was taking the U.S. threats seriously, but he added Iraq was encouraged by the growing European and Arab opposition to any strike.

"We do not ignore these threats. We are preparing all that we can prepare with all of our capabilities," he said. "Should it (the attack) take place they would find a new situation and a new confrontation that they have not faced anywhere."

But Ramadan also repeated that Baghdad was willing to start a dialogue with Washington so long as it was without provisos.

"I do not think we have ever rejected direct dialogue with the U.S. administration...(provided that) there are no terms. We want a dialogue in which each of us respects the opinion of the other and does not interfere in internal affairs," he said.

"If the mass destruction weapons have been destroyed what is the need for inspectors? To spy on the security of Iraq or to (satisfy) the wish of...the American administration," he said.

Hmmmmm....

"Iraq had a large VX production underway, and has not offered any evidence that the capability and stockpile have been destroyed. In 1996, Iraq admitted it had produced at least 3.9 tons of VX and at least 600 tons of ingredients to make it. (It is one of the deadliest forms of nerve gas and easily storable.)

Defection of Iraqi Lt. Gen. Hussein Majid, formerly in charge of WMD programs, led Iraq to admit its bio-weapon program in August 1995. Baghdad admitted to producing 90,000 liters of Botulinium toxin, 8,300 liters of Anthrax, and significant quantities of other agents, plus a laboratory and industrial-scale facility to continue production.

Defectors reported in December 2001 and March 2002 the existence of mobile germ laboratories disguised as milk delivery trucks, and a network of underground bunkers for chemical and biological weapons production. U.S. officials released evidence on March 8, 2002, allegedly showing that Iraq has been converting dump trucks bought through a UN humanitarian program into military vehicles, in violation of UN sanctions. An Iraqi defector stated that he had converted Renault trucks into mobile laboratories with incubators for bacteria, microscopes and air conditioning.

Intelligence reports indicate that Iraq is also developing newer and longer range missiles, with initial ranges of 600-700 miles; far enough to hit Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ankara in Turkey, Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, and Tehran in Iran. During Desert Storm, Iraq launched some 45 Scud missiles: one at Bahrain, five or six at Saudi Arabia, and 39 into Israel. Development of the Al Samoud liquid-propellant missile is ongoing; Iraq also is actively developing solid-propellant engines to build a multi-stage surface-to-surface missile.

Several reports indicate that Iraq is closer to a nuclear bomb than most people think. It has an efficient nuclear bomb design - with the new warhead weighing only about 1,300 pounds and 2 feet in diameter. The one thing lacking is fissile material to fuel it. Nuclear weapon specialists estimate if Saddam could buy the materials he is missing, it would only be a matter of months until Iraq created a weapon.

In January 2002, U.S. intelligence sources estimated the United States could face a ballistic missile threat from Iraq by the year 2015, well before such a threat emerged from Iran or North Korea.

Rumsfeld stated on April 15, 2002, that new equipment had allowed Iraq's weapon program to become more mobile, "enabling them to go underground to a greater extent than they had previously."

Center for Defense Information

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