Posted on 02/15/2003 4:22:51 AM PST by kattracks
UNITED NATIONS ? Although inspectors have found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, proscribed items including "1,000 tons of chemical agent" have not been accounted for, and Iraq still needs to be more cooperative and forthcoming, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said Friday.The time needed for inspections could be shortened if "immediate, active and unconditional cooperation" with the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency "were to be forthcoming," said the UNMOVIC chairman.
Blix told the U.N. Security Council that Iraq was cooperating on process, but apparently not yet on substance. He said important questions remained about biological and chemical weapons that could not be accounted for, and about Iraq's missile program, which is limited under U.N. mandate.
Blix referred to the oft-stated belief of U.S. officials that Iraq is trying to hide its weapons program. "We are fully aware that many government and intelligence organizations are convinced and assert that proscribed weapons, items and programs continue to exist," he said.
But he said that the inspectors themselves were not yet convinced. "The inspectors, for their part, must base their reports only on the evidence which they can themselves examine and present publicly."
Recalling his last report to the panel on Jan. 27, Blix said it seemed that "Iraq had decided in principle to provide cooperation on process, most importantly prompt access to all sites and assistance to UNMOVIC in the establishment of the necessary infrastructure. This impression remains, and we note that access to sites has so far been without problems, including those that had never been declared or inspected, as well as to presidential sites and private residences."
But he said cooperation by Iraq "requires more than the opening of doors ... it requires immediate, unconditional and active efforts by Iraq to resolve existing questions of disarmament, either by presenting remaining proscribed items and programs for elimination or by presenting convincing evidence that they have been eliminated. In the current situation, one would expect Iraq to be eager to comply."
He noted that Baghdad officials were meeting with a delegation from South Africa to learn how Pretoria was able to get itself declared free of nuclear weapons after two years of work by a small group of IAEA inspectors.
Blix said there were more than 250 U.N. inspectors from 60 countries in Iraq.
Saddam Claims Weapons Are Now Banned
... So It Must Be True!Nearly simultaneously, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein issued a decree banning individuals and companies from producing or importing weapons of mass destruction.
The ban on chemical, biological and nuclear weapons was to take effect immediately, but was greeted with skepticism in Washington.
The world should not be taken in by "tricks that are being played on us" by Saddam Hussein, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday.
Powell: 'Threat of Force Must Remain'
"The threat of force must remain," Powell told the U.N. Security Council. "We cannot wait for one of these terrible weapons to turn up in our cities."
He said Iraq was strengthening its links with terror groups.
"More inspections, I am sorry, are not the answer," Powell said.
In Washington, President Bush said confronting Iraq was part of the broader war against terrorists.
"Saddam Hussein has ties to terrorist networks. Saddam Hussein is a danger, and that's why he will be disarmed, one way or another," Bush said.
Powell sat impassively as a parade of speakers rejected the United States' position. Loud applause greeted French and Russian pleas to allow weapons inspectors more time. There was no audible clapping for Powell.
France urged extended inspections and yet another report on March 14. Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said force should be a last resort. "The option of inspections has not been taken to an end," he insisted.
"Spain and Great Britain spoke up for the U.S. side, and other countries who are not members of the Security Council have also pledged support," Fox News reported.
"How much, if any, is left of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and related proscribed items and programs?" Blix asked the council. "So far, UNMOVIC has not found any such weapons, only a small number of empty chemical munitions, which should have been declared and destroyed.
Heck, It's Only 1,000 Tons
"Another matter, and one of great significance, is that many proscribed weapons and items are not accounted for," said the 74-year-old Swede. "A document, which Iraq provided, suggested to us that some 1,000 tons of chemical agent were unaccounted for.
"One must not jump to the conclusion that they exist. However, that possibility is also not excluded.
"If they exist, they should be presented for destruction. If they do not exist, credible evidence to that effect should be presented," said Blix.
He did not ask for more time but said, "Three months after the adoption of Resolution 1441 of 2002, the period of disarmament through inspection could still be short, if immediate, active and unconditional cooperation with UNMOVIC and the IAEA were to be forthcoming."
Pope Weighs In
Tariq Aziz, Iraq's deputy prime minister and the main ranking member of Hussein's regime from the country's small Christian minority, Friday told Pope John Paul II that Iraq was prepared to disarm if that meant war could be avoided.
Aziz, a Chamdean Christian, backed out of a scheduled news briefing at the Vatican. The first news of his meeting came as a short statement from the Holy See.
"We are very keen about the importance of the moral influence of the Holy Father when he asks for peace, and when he refuses war," Aziz said in the Vatican statement. "This is a very important factor for international public opinion."
In return, the aged pope told Aziz that Iraq must "faithfully respect the U.N. ... with concrete commitments," according to the statement.
Later Friday, after the presentations of Blix and ElBaradei, Aziz held a news conference at Rome's foreign press club in which he said, "The outlaw here is America, not Iraq.
"Bush says time is running out. Why is time running out?" he asked reporters rhetorically. "He is afraid of the ultimate results of the inspectors, so that is why he says time is running out."
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
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