Iraq's Aziz Says Ready to Work with UN

03/09/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS:Israel Prepares for Possible U.S. Attack on Iraq After November 1||Iraq Urges Arabs to Close Ranks||Oil Prices Cool as Iraq Talks Cooperation|| STORY: Iraq is ready to cooperate with the United Nations to find a comprehensive solution to the country's crisis with the United States, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said on Tuesday.

"As I told the (U.N.) Secretary General, if anybody can have a magic solution, so that all these issues are being dealt with together, equitably and reasonably, we are ready to find such a solution and we are ready to cooperate with the United Nations," Aziz said after a half-hour meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Johannesburg.

ISRAE PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE U.S. ATTACK ON IRAQ AFTER NOVEMBER 1

Israel has meanwhile asked its security and emergency services to complete preparations for a possible U.S. attack on Iraq - and an Iraqi counterstrike against Israel - by Nov. 1, officials in Jerusalem said Tuesday.

The United States has not told Israel if or when it will attack Iraq, and Nov. 1 was chosen by Israel as a "reasonable" deadline for preparations, to make sure no branch of the security or emergency services lagged behind, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Security officials, including a senior member of the Home Front Command, also said they have been asked by the government to present their plans by Nov. 1.

The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that Sharon met Tuesday with the heads of his security forces to discuss a possible U.S. attack on Iraq.

The newspaper reported that the military was training for the possibility that Saddam would use chemical or biological weapons against Israel. In 1991, all the Scud missiles fired on Israel had conventional warheads.

IRAQ URGES ARABS TO CLOSE RANKS

In Baghdad, Iraq urged Arab parliamentarians meeting in the capital on Tuesday to close ranks against a possible U.S. military action to oust the government of President Saddam Hussein.

"We urge you to stand firm against any aggression whether on Iraq or any other Arab country," Iraq's Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council Izzat Ibrahim told more than 100 deputies attending the two-day meeting.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait stayed away from the meeting which was attended by most other Arab countries.

Ibrahim exchanged handshakes and hugs with Saudi leaders at an Arab summit in Beirut in March. Before the summit Kuwait and its strong ally Saudi Arabia, the launch pad of the 1991 U.S.-led Gulf War which ejected Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, had refused to have any direct dealings with Iraq under Saddam.

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Saadoun Hammadi said the meeting was expected to adopt "legal and political decisions and resolutions concerning mobilizing public opinion in the Arab world and abroad especially in Europe."

He did not elaborate.

The Arab Parliamentary Union's meeting is being held amid an Iraqi diplomatic offensive to rally international support against a possible U.S. military attack.

OIL PRICES COOL AS IRAQ TALKS COOPERATION

Oil prices lost ground on Tuesday as Iraq sought to avoid a possible military attack by the United States and traders grappled with OPEC divisions ahead of a production policy meeting in September.

Speaking after talks with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said Baghdad was ready to cooperate with the United Nations to find a comprehensive solution to the country's crisis with the United States.

Although the comments cooled oil prices, traders said the market would not ease considerably unless President Bush and hawks in his administration soften their line on Iraq, a major crude producer.

Some traders gauging oil price reactions to Iraq predict that U.S. war rhetoric will escalate but they do not expect any U.S. attack before congressional elections in November.

Last week, Brent prices had risen to their highest levels this year as speculation mounted that the United States was poised for attack on Iraq, raising fears of a disruption of oil supplies from oil-rich Middle East region.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, center, speaks to the media after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the World Summit on Sustainable Development at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg on Tuesday Sept. 3, 2002. Aziz said Iraq was willing to work with the UN with regard to allowing weapons inspectors into the Iraq providing this was tied to lifting sanctions and restoring sovereignty. (AP Photo/John McConnic