Posted on 11/04/2002 1:02:59 PM PST by blam
Saddam Hints at Flexibility, U.S. Ships Set Sail
By Samia Nakhoul and Evelyn Leopold
BAGHDAD/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said Monday he would consider cooperating with a new U.N. resolution on arms inspections provided it was not merely a pretext for the United States to attack Iraq.
As intense diplomatic wrangling went on among major powers over how to deal with Iraq, there were growing signs that Washington was preparing for possible war. U.S. officials told Reuters three U.S. military cargo ships capable of carrying tanks had left U.S. shores.
"If a resolution is issued which respects the U.N. charter, international law and Iraq's sovereignty, security and independence, and does not provide a cover for America's ill intentions, we will view it in a way that makes us deal with it," official Iraqi television quoted Saddam as telling visiting far-right Austrian politician Joerg Haider.
In separate talks with South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, Saddam said however: "If American pressures, temptations and threats led to resolutions that contradict the interests of Iraq, its security and independence, we will defend our people."
The first comment appeared to mark a possible shift in Baghdad's stance. Iraqi officials have previously been hostile to the idea of a new resolution governing U.N. inspections of its alleged programs to develop nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
The United States and Britain say they will make changes this week to a tough draft resolution intended to give inspectors unfettered access to sites in Iraq. The inspectors left Baghdad in 1998 complaining Iraqi authorities had consistently obstructed their work.
"HIDDEN TRIGGERS"
At issue is suspicion by France, Russia and China of "hidden triggers" in the wording of the resolution that would allow Washington to launch a military strike, overthrow Saddam and argue afterwards it had U.N. authorization.
France is lobbying hard to amend the draft resolution.
Diplomats say the differences among the five veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France -- could delay a vote until after Tuesday's key mid-term U.S. elections.
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, the most steadfast of Washington's military allies, said on Monday the five were converging on agreement.
"We are reaching the point of closure, I think," Blair told a news conference. "The absolutely critical issue for us is that we get an inspection regime in there that doesn't have the problems the last one had," he said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell , national security adviser Condoleezza Rice , Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials were meeting in Washington on Monday to go over the draft and decide which changes were acceptable.
The United States expected to submit an amended resolution to the Security Council this week, the State Department said. President Bush on Monday lobbied President Vicente Fox of Mexico, considered a key voter on the council.
Leaders of 13 Asian countries, including China, called on Iraq to "fully comply" with U.N. resolutions after meeting in Phnom Penh, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.
U.S. SHIPS SET SAIL
The U.S. military cargo vessels, USNS Bellatrix, USNS Bob Hope and USNS Fisher, left U.S. shores in recent days, officials said.
The ships are just short of the length of aircraft carriers, and among the largest transport ships in the U.S. military's inventory. Two have seven decks capable of carrying tanks, helicopters and other heavy armor.
The deployment occurred as the aircraft carrier USS Constellation set sail for the Gulf from San Diego, California at the weekend.
Marge Holtz, director of Military Sealift Command, a branch of the U.S. Navy , declined to comment on the exact destination of the cargo vessels. "It is part of the repositioning of forces and equipment in support of the war on terror. They are en route," she told Reuters.
Iraq applauded key U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on Monday for forbidding U.S. forces to use its soil as a launchpad to attack Baghdad, saying it was "in line with Arab solidarity."
Saudi Arabia said it would not allow the United States to use its facilities to attack Iraq, even if a strike had U.N. sanction -- a pointed sign of how little enthusiasm frontline U.S. allies appear to feel for war.
Kuwait, delivered from Iraqi occupation 11 years ago by U.S.-led forces, said on Monday its bases would be used if a U.N. resolution was issued, but not its own troops.
In Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance, the seismic election victory of a party with Islamist roots at the weekend added to doubts over how Turkish bases might be used by U.S. and British warplanes stationed there in the event of war.
The U.S. military has already moved large quantities of ammunition, armored vehicles, troops and command facilities to the Gulf region, where Western forces have land bases in several countries. A number of huge U.S. aircraft carriers are in striking distance of Iraq.
The practical support of Saudi Arabia or other individual U.S. allies in the region is not vital to that military buildup, but the lack of it could undermine Washington's claims to international legitimacy for attacking Iraq.
In secretive Iraq there were few visible signs of military activity, but there was other evidence the government was girding itself to deal with a possible attack.
Saddam has ordered double food rations to be provided for the population for two months in the event of war, his trade minister announced this week. Fuel dumps are being restocked and air raid warning sirens tested.
Diplomats say he has also made plans to nip any unrest in the bud to avoid a repeat of the 1991 post-Gulf War revolts by Shi'ite Muslims in the south and Kurds in the north. Saddam has appointed loyal army commanders as provincial governors with orders to respond swiftly to any trouble, the diplomats say.
LOL, let's attack these swine and get it over with!
Don't bother Saddam, the war with you is not going to last that long. Loser.
Saddam your a dumb @ss! The only reason you would consider letting in the inspectors IS because the threat of war is about to come down on your head.
Sad, indeed.
BBC NEWS: "IRAQ OPENS BORDER WITH SAUDI" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Saudi goods imported by Iraq under the UN's oil for food programme have had to be transported via Jordan. The reopening of the Ar'ra crossing will mean they can be trucked straight across the border.") (103102)
AFTENPOSTEN.no - Norwegian News: "STATE PAYS TERROR SUSPECT'S LEGAL BILLS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Mulla Krekar was initially a refugee from Iraq who arrived in Norway in 1991, was granted residence permission and allowed to bring his family to Norway as well. He later traveled back to northern Iraq, however, where he allegedly has led guerrilla warfare in the area. Krekar also is suspected of having ties to the terrorist network al-Qaeda, and he was arrested at the airport in Amsterdam in September.") (102902)
I worry about this too.
(If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch)
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