Iraq Faces Crucial Cooperation Test at Talks

01/10/2002| IslamWeb

Iraq faced a test of its cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors on Tuesday as the United States An Iraqi delegation and top U.N. weapons inspectors were meeting in Vienna for a second and final day of talks on the return of inspectors to Iraq in an attempt to prevent a threatened military strike by the United States and Britain. The extent to which Iraq satisfies the inspectors that it will give truly free access to potential weapons sites may determine whether leading members of the U.N. Security Council back any U.S.-sponsored resolution threatening the use of force.

Chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix said they were working hard to hammer out agreement on the practicalities to pave the way for renewed inspections. But he said more work lay ahead.

He told reporters the Vienna talks were designed to avoid logistical problems once inspectors return.

"It is better to have discussions, and detailed discussions, here than to have discussions when you arrive...And we still have things to go through."

A senior diplomat close to the talks said he expected the Iraqi team to provide information about their nuclear facilities on Tuesday as a goodwill gesture.

Iraq has not provided this information, due every six months, since December 1998, when U.N. inspectors left Baghdad on the eve of a punitive a U.S.-British bombing campaign. The talks were expected to end later on Tuesday.

The negotiations come amid increasingly tough language from President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who accuse Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

BLAIR ADDRESS

Blair was due to address his ruling Labour Party's annual conference on Tuesday, telling numerous opponents of war that he backed the U.N. effort to deal with Iraq, but that the organization's reputation would be ruined if it failed.

He was also due to say Saddam would never respond without the threat of military action, his spokesman said.

An opinion for Britain's Guardian indicated public support for war on Iraq had faded four points to 33 percent in a week.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, trying to enlist the help of Iraq's neighbors in opposing a U.S.-led attack, told reporters on a visit to Ankara:

"Iraq fully complies with the U.N. Security Council decisions, and Iraq will help U.N. inspectors. I think inspections will show the reality of Iraq not having weapons of mass destruction."

But he also said Turkey would "absolutely not" continue to be a friend of Iraq if it let its bases be used for an attack.
The Vienna talks are the first test of Iraq's cooperation since Baghdad agreed on September 16 to the unconditional return of the inspectors under threat of a U.S. military strike.

At the United Nations , the United States intensified lobbying of the 10 rotating Security Council members in support of a resolution that would allow it to attack Iraq if it violates U.N. demands.

LOBBYING THE COUNCIL

U.S. representative James Cunningham and British ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock briefed the council members on Monday and were to meet the three other more dovish veto-bearing nations -- France, China and Russia -- again on Tuesday.

Both diplomats argued against France's proposal of two resolutions -- saving the threat of force for the second one -- saying this would make war more likely.

The U.S. draft, according to those familiar with the text, says any U.N. member can use "all necessary means," a diplomatic euphemism for the use of force, to enforce the resolution.

Diplomats said "regime change" -- the toppling of Saddam -- was not in the draft but that Cunningham said the "human element" might be factored in at some stage.

Under the American draft, inspectors are to have access to all sites, including Saddam's eight palace compounds and any chosen by the permanent five council members.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said it stipulated that inspectors "can go any place, any time, speak to whomever they have to speak to, have access to the documents that are required to be seen in order to find out what the Iraqis have been doing."
"We don't give Iraq so much time that they can hide things or move things," he said. "(We want) A toughened regime that will make sure, as much as we can make sure, that they are complying with the conditions of these resolutions."

Blix said on Monday he did not expect the palaces, long a sensitive issue, to be closed to the U.N. teams. Iraqi officials said the issue would be discussed at the talks.

But sources close to the Vienna talks say there are a number of issues that must be resolved before inspectors can return. One of these is access to dozens of other sites deemed sensitive by Baghdad, such as the defense and interior ministries.

Former chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler said that when his inspectors went to presidential sites before 1998, they had covered 75 sq km (29 sq miles) with over 1,000 buildings.

"Some of them had very large warehouses in which we had good reason to believe they were storing weapons and weapons-related material," he said.

An Iraqi weekly owned by Saddam's son Uday said Blix's inspectors should need only six months to do their work.
The paper, al-Rafidain, said it expected the inspectors in Iraq on October 16, but to "create a crisis by asking to carry out illegal activities which are not based on U.N. resolutions."

lobbied for international backing for a resolution that let it attack Iraq if it perceives violations.

PHOTO CAPTION

Amir Al Sadi, Special Adviser to the Iraqi President (R), Chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix (L) and International Atomic Energy Agency director general Mohammed El Baradei head to a meeting in Vienna's U.N. headquarters October 1, 2002. Blix said earlier that delegates were working hard to hammer out agreement on the practicalities which would help pave the way for a return of weapons inspectors next month. (Herwig Prammer/Reuter