U.S. House Backs War, Iraq Invites U.S. Inspectors

11/10/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Blair and Putin to Hold Further Talks on Iraq in Moscow||Nonaligned Nations Ask for Iraq Meet || 3 U.S. Marines Injured in Kuwait Blast || STORY: The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to back a possible war with Iraq as Baghdad tried on Thursday to avert a strike by inviting the Bush administration to see for itself that it was not producing weapons of mass destruction.

Baghdad's move to thwart the U.S. threat of invasion helped oil prices retreat to their lowest level in three weeks on Thursday but the White House dismissed the offer -- as it has repeatedly with other such overtures in the last few weeks
Meanwhile and while urging President Bush to pursue efforts to disarm Iraq through the United Nations before resorting to war, the Republican-led House granted him the power to strike if necessary -- a step the Senate was expected to follow by the weekend.

With Congress authorizing U.S. military action against Iraq, the U.N. Security Council -- and especially France and Russia -- could now represent the last real obstacle to war.

BLAIR & PUTIN TO HOLD FURTHER TALKS ON IRAQ IN MOSCOW

In Moscow, British Prime Minister Tony Blair holds a second round of talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday, hoping to gain Russia's support for a tough U.N. resolution on Iraq.

Blair, who on Thursday flew with his wife Cherie into a Moscow seeing its first snow this winter, dined with Putin on Thursday night in the Russian president's country retreat outside the capital.

Blair told reporters on his plane that Russia's economic interests in Iraq would be a key part of his talks with Putin, who until now has been reluctant to back Washington's strong-armed line against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein

NONALIGNED NATIONS ASK FOR IRAQ MEET

In New York, Some 130 nations pressing for a peaceful solution in Iraq asked the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to hold an emergency open meeting before it votes on a new resolution that could authorize military action against Saddam Hussein's government.

The move by the Nonaligned Movement, whose members are mainly from developing countries, would put the U.S. and British demands for military authorization under a microscope by shifting what have been closed-door talks into a public format.

Council members supported the request for an open meeting and council president Martin Belinga-Eboutou of Cameroon told members he would set a date after consultations.

Diplomats said the open meeting will not be held Friday, as France wanted, but will likely take place sometime next week. It will definitely be held before the council votes on a new resolution, diplomats said, but it wasn't clear whether it would take place before or after a new resolution is formally introduced to the council.

3 U.S. MARINES INJURED IN KUWAIT

In Kuwait, three U.S. Marines were injured in an explosion Thursday, and U.S. officials said they may have been wounded by a land mine as they set up a training exercise. None of the injuries was believed life-threatening.

The blast, on the Udari range on the Kuwait mainland, came two days after gunmen killed a Marine in a terrorist attack elsewhere in Kuwait and one day after a Marine reported firing a shot at a man who pointed a gun at him and other Marines.

U.S. troops have trained in Kuwait for more than a decade without reported hostile encounters until Tuesday, when two gunmen in a pickup truck opened fire on Marines engaged in urban assault training on Failaka, an island 10 miles east of Kuwait City.

A second Marine was injured in the Tuesday attack, and the Kuwaiti gunmen were killed by Marines, after driving to a second location and opening fire again.

On Wednesday, troops driving from Camp Doha to a site nearer the Iraqi border said a man drove along side and pointed a gun at them. One of the Marines shot at the vehicle, which veered off the road.

Officials later said occupants of the civilian vehicle claimed only to have been holding a cell phone. No one was injured in the incident.

PHOTO CAPTION
(Top R) An Iraqi wearing a face mask works at the al-Nasr industrial plant in Baghdad October 10, 2002. The plant is one of the sites suspected by the United States of producing weapons of mass destruction. Iraq invited the U.S. to send officials to visit Iraqi sites suspected of producing weapons of mass destruction. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

(Top L) British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin upon his arrival at a government residence in Zavidovo, Russia, October 10, 2002. (Pool via Reuters)

(Bottom L) Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien talks to a group of students at Glebe Collegiate high school in Ottawa on IraqThursday, Oct. 10, 2002.. (AP Photo/CP, Tom Hanson)

(Bottom R) Gunnery Sgts. Osama B. Shofani, left, and Rob Andrews walk among a herd of white camels at the Udairi Training Range in western Kuwait during a site visit Sept. 27, 2002. (AP Photo/U.S. Marine Corps,Staff Sgt. Bill Lisbon)