Posted on 11/24/2002 9:21:29 AM PST by kattracks
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov 24, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- AP Special Correspondent
The Iraqi government protested to the United Nations on Sunday, as inspectors readied a crucial new round in the weapons hunt, that the small print behind their mission will give Washington a pretext to attack.
The new U.N. resolution on weapons inspections could turn "inaccurate statements (among) thousands of pages" of required Iraqi reports into a supposed justification for military action, Foreign Minister Naji Sabri complained in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"There is premeditation to target Iraq, whatever the pretext," Sabri said.
The foreign minister's lengthy letter, a point-by-point commentary on the Security Council resolution, was not expected to affect the inspections, which resume Wednesday after a four-year suspension. Iraq had accepted the resolution in a Nov. 13 letter from Sabri to Annan.
Preparations moved steadily ahead on Baghdad's outskirts Sunday, where technicians at the U.N. inspection center worked to establish a "hot line" connection with liaisons in the Iraqi government.
The first working group of 18 inspectors arrives Monday on a flight from a U.N. rear base in Cyprus. Their numbers are expected to swell by year-end to between 80 and 100 at a time in Iraq.
In seven years' work after the 1991 Gulf War, U.N. experts destroyed large amounts of chemical and biological weapons and longer-range missiles forbidden to Iraq by U.N. resolutions, and dismantled Iraq's nuclear weapons program before it could build a bomb. The inspections were suspended amid disputes over U.N. access to Iraqi sites and Iraqi complaints of American spying via the U.N. operation.
A new focus on Iraq by the Bush administration led to adoption of Resolution 1441 and the dispatch of inspectors back to Iraq with greater powers of unrestricted access to suspected weapons sites. Washington alleges Iraq retains some prohibited weapons and may be producing others.
The resolution, adopted unanimously Nov. 7, demands the Iraqis give up any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, or face "serious consequences."
It requires Iraq to submit an accounting by Dec. 8 of its weapons programs, as well as of chemical, biological and nuclear programs it claims are peaceful. Any "false statements or omissions" in that declaration could contribute to a finding it had committed a "material breach" of the resolution - a finding that might lead to military action.
The Bush administration has threatened war to enforce Iraqi disarmament, with or without U.N. sanction. But other governments, including those of France, Russia and China, say that decision can be made only by the Security Council.
Sabri's letter, dated Saturday and released Sunday, complained that a key passage on providing documentation is unjust, "because it considers the giving of inaccurate statements - taking into consideration that there are thousands of pages to be presented in those statements - is a material breach."
Sabri wrote that the aim was clear: "to provide pretexts ... to be used in aggressive acts against Iraq."
After talks with the Iraqis last week, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said they had expressed "particular concern" about what was expected of them in reporting on their chemical industry, a complex area in which many toxic products can be diverted to military use.
The foreign minister's letter disputed the allegations that his government retained chemical or biological weapons and rebuilt weapons programs. "The United States and Britain failed to give one credible proof on this matter," Sabri wrote.
Sabri also complained that the resolution gives the inspectors "unjust power" like "conducting interviews with citizens inside the country without the presence of a representative of their government or asking them to leave their country with their families for interviews or demanding lists of the names of all scientists and researchers and removing equipment without notifying the Iraqi government."
Sabri complained of what he called arbitrary powers being granted to inspectors, including "meeting people inside their country without the presence of a representative of their government, or asking them to leave the country with their families to meet (for interviews) abroad."
In notifying Annan of Iraq's acceptance of Resolution 1441, Sabri had advised the U.N. chief he would follow with this second letter commenting on supposed violations of international law and other problems with the resolution.
The Iraqi official urged that Security Council member nations ensure that the weapons inspectors are committed "to their obligations according to the U.N. charter and ... the United Nations' goals." If they do so, he wrote, they will "uncover the false U.S. accusations."
The U.N. experts' first missions are expected to be visits to Iraqi sites previously inspected in the 1990s, where they will check on cameras and other monitoring equipment left behind in many cases by earlier inspectors.
A top priority was establishing operational security at the U.N. offices, to maintain secrecy surrounding the targets of the inspectors' surprise visits.
"We are still testing our communications equipment to make sure we have secure lines," said Hiro Ueki, spokesman for the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, UNMOVIC.
By CHARLES J. HANLEY
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Yep, this should worry Saddam, it increases the chances of this effort to be effective, if used wisely.
There'll be more plot twists and cliff hangers in this than in the X Files. The series will probably run longer too.
Rats, he noticed.
a.cricket
I keep hearing the fifth season theme music in relation to the entire war situation... (Actually, that music would have worked well as music for the 9/11 commemoration)
a.cricket
No surprise here.
Um. I thought they didn't have any WMD. So, um, can't they say "none" on one page? Um...
They are also required to list and document their involvement with any and every chemical that might be used in the preparation of chemical weapons, and any and every industrial process, device, plant, machine or technology that might be used to produce any WMD. So even if they haven't actually been working on WMD's, they will still have plenty to list and document.
As for the my love for the show, just look at my screen name...
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