Iraqis Protest 'Provocative' Inspections

23/01/2003| IslamWeb

U.N. arms inspectors met a chorus of Iraqi protest Wednesday - from students, a Mosques Immam and an angry farmer who said he would sue - as they pressed on with surprise inspections in search of clues to any forbidden Iraqi weapons. The White House, meanwhile, denied an Iraqi claim that its air defenses shot down an unmanned American spy plane. In New York, chief inspector Hans Blix complained that Iraq was balking at allowing the United Nations reconnaissance over flights.

The signs of U.N.-Iraqi friction, two days after Baghdad pledged greater cooperation, came as Blix's inspection agency and the U.N. nuclear agency prepared to submit a crucial report to the Security Council on Monday.

The inspectors, charged with ensuring the Baghdad government has no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs, will report on their findings and on Iraqi cooperation thus far with the 2-month-old inspection regime.

The Bush administration contends Iraq should be found in noncompliance because it hasn't surrendered what U.S. officials contend - without offering proof - are stockpiles of banned arms.

Such a determination could pave the way for military action against Saddam Hussein's government. "We're ready now. The Iraqi regime should have no doubt," Gen. Richard Myers, U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon news conference as thousands more U.S. military personnel prepared to deploy to the Persian Gulf region.

France & Germany Oppose US Unilateral Action

Gerhard Schroeder, chancellor of Germany, which takes over as president of the Security Council next week, made his clearest statement of opposition yet. "Don't expect Germany to approve a resolution legitimizing war, don't expect it," he told a rally of his ruling party.

France, which has veto power in the council, made similar statements.

"War is not inevitable," French President Jacques Chirac told a historic joint session of the French and German parliaments. "The only framework for a legitimate solution is the United Nations."

Washington Appears Prepared to Wait

In view of the difficult diplomatic task ahead, Washington appeared prepared to wait. Myers said his forces could stand by in a high state of readiness for months if necessary.

Baghdad Ready for War

Saddam said Wednesday the United States would never succeed in any war, even if it uses its entire army. "The enemy can destroy and hurt but will never occupy this land," the Iraqi leader told military commanders at a meeting partially broadcast on state television.

In Iraq, more than 100 U.N. weapons experts continued their inspections, visiting Basra University in the south, the Badr engineering company, which worked on uranium enrichment technology as part of Iraq's unsuccessful nuclear bomb program of the 1980s, and the Baghdad Technology Institute.

No War for Oil

Several dozen students carrying T-squares slide rules and hastily scribbled protest signs poured out of the Technology Institute after the U.N. inspectors arrived unannounced.

"No war for oil," read one sign in English, reflecting a common Iraqi view that U.S. threats to attack Iraq have more to do with American designs on Iraqi oil than with concern over its weapons.

The inspectors are believed to be checking universities and technical institutes for signs of banned military research in biological, chemical or nuclear fields, and for leads to scientists and engineers potentially knowledgeable about weapons work.

Farmer to Sue Inspectors

Later Wednesday, chicken farmer Sabah Anwar Mohammed was brought by government officials to complain to the media that U.N. inspectors had demolished the wall of a building on his farm on the capital's southern outskirts.

"I hope to file a suit against the United Nations and the inspectors," said an angry Mohammed, 59, who works principally as an industrial executive.

A U.N. statement on Monday said a biological weapons team visited "an agricultural site south of Baghdad" that day.

Mohammed said all they found behind the demolished wall were motors and other electrical equipment he stored there after he shut down the farm.

Mosque's Immam Complains

Government officials also brought out the head cleric of a Baghdad mosque, who complained that five male U.N. inspectors came to the mosque on Monday without government escorts, took pictures of its minarets and asked him questions about its architecture.

The imam, Quteiba Saadi Amash, described the actions as "provocative" and a violation of the mosque's sanctity. "We tell them that they will never find what they are looking for in our mosques," he said.

The farmer and immam could reach no U.N. officials for comment on the complaints, and it was not clear whether the inspectors visited the mosque as tourists.

Washington Denies Iraqi Claims Over The Downing of A Drone Plane

Iraq claimed Wednesday to have shot down an unmanned Predator spy plane over Iraq. But the U.S. military disputed the report and the White House later denied it. "There is no truth to the Iraqi claim," said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer.

In New York, chief U.N. inspector Blix complained the Iraqis are "putting up conditions that would be unacceptable" for U.N. use of the high-flying, manned U-2 to aid in the inspections across Iraq.

The U-2s were a mainstay of the first hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, from 1991 to 1998.

Australia, meanwhile, announced its troops were preparing to leave for the Middle East for possible military action against Iraq

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqi men burn a United States flag outside the United Nations Development Program offices in Baghdad, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003 to show support for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and to protest a possible attack by the U.S. The Iraqi vice president has said that Iraq is sure the United States will attack despite the Baghdad government's new agreement to expand its cooperation with U.N weapons inspectors. (AP Photo/David Guttenf