US Says Not Short of Allies for Iraq War

25/01/2003| IslamWeb

The United States said on Saturday at least a dozen nations would back an attack on Iraq, even without a new U.N. resolution, but was reported to be ready to give U.N. arms experts more time to complete their work. In Baghdad, a man wielding three knives tried to enter the headquarters of the U.N. inspectors, but was stopped by guards, a U.N. spokesman said. In a second incident, a man tried to stop a convoy of U.N. cars carrying inspectors.

The incidents, which occurred as U.N. teams were leaving for daily searches of suspected weapons sites, were the first of their kind since the arms experts returned in November after a four-year break. Their activities have aroused Iraqi resentment.

The inspectors are to give the U.N. Security Council a progress report on Monday, which could begin a countdown for a U.S. invasion to force Iraqi President Saddam Hussein  to disarm.

Secretary of State Colin Powell  told reporters on his way to the World Economic Forum  in Davos, Switzerland, that potential U.S. allies would prefer a new council resolution authorizing force against Iraq, but would not insist on one.

"There are quite a number of countries that already have indicated that they would like to have another resolution, but without another resolution they will be with us," he said. "We would not be alone, that's for sure. I could rattle off at least a dozen off memory, and I think that there will be more."

However, The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the Bush administration, under pressure from allies abroad and Democrats at home not to hasten into war, was expected to let U.N. inspections go on for several more weeks at least.

Iraq vowed to resist any U.S.-led assault with all the means at its disposal. "We are going to stand up and fight. We will use every method to inflict damage and casualties against those who invade our country without any justification," Parliament Speaker Saadoun Hammadi told reporters in New Delhi.

The United States, assembling formidable forces around Iraq, is racking up pressure on Baghdad to obey U.N. demands that it abandon its alleged chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs. Iraq says it no longer has such programs.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said in Davos the market was not short of oil despite Iraq war fears, and prices should be lower.

"There is no shortage in the market and there should be no reason for prices where they are today," he said.

Prices have hit two-year highs this week amid worries about an Iraq war and reduced oil exports from strike-hit Venezuela.

SCIENTIST INTERVIEW

An Iraqi scientist, accompanied by Iraqi officials, arrived at a Baghdad hotel used by U.N. inspectors on Saturday, but it was not immediately clear if he would be questioned in private.

A senior Iraqi official said on Thursday his office had tried to persuade scientists involved in weapons programs to submit to private interviews, but they had refused.

The White House accused Iraq on Friday of "willful defiance" of the United Nations  by refusing to let scientists take part in private interviews, but stopped short of declaring Baghdad in "material breach" of a U.N. disarmament resolution.

Powell said he was bringing to the Davos forum "a message of American determination to work with the international community to deal with the most important threat, the threat presented by Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction."

"Let us not ignore the seriousness of this matter," he said, listing stocks of deadly prohibited Iraqi weapons which previous U.N. weapons inspectors were unable to account for.

Powell said nations that backed last year's Security Council resolution 1441, which gave Iraq a final chance to disarm, could not duck out of their responsibilities if Baghdad disobeyed.

"We cannot now start shrinking because the going is getting tough," he declared. "The burden is on Iraq. Iraq must comply or it will be made to comply by military force."

SECURITY COUNCIL SPLIT

France, China and Russia, three of the five veto-holding members of the Security Council, have opposed any rush to war with Iraq by the other two, the United States and Britain.

Differences over Iraq have sparked a rancorous transatlantic dispute between Washington and key European allies.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on Saturday Iraq had "no room for tactics or maneuvering" in its dealings with U.N. weapons inspectors if it wanted to avert war.

Fischer, who has angrily rejected U.S. criticism that Germany and France were isolated in Europe in trying to avert an Iraq war, was in Cairo for talks with his Egyptian counterpart.

U.N. chief arms inspector Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), are expected to tell the Security Council on Monday that Iraq's cooperation with their teams has been insufficient.

"We are saying what we always said -- that cooperation was satisfactory but Iraq needs to do a great deal more in this respect," IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky told Reuters in Vienna.

Bush, who has voiced impatience with the inspections process, will deliver his State of the Union speech on Tuesday and will speak of the direct threat posed by Iraq, while issuing no ultimatum to Saddam or declaration of war, aides said.

Powell gave no indication of how long Bush was prepared to wait, but suggested no decision would be taken until Bush sees British Prime Minister Tony Blair  at Camp David on January 31.

Blair and Bush talked by telephone on Friday to coordinate their stance ahead of Blix's report, Blair's spokesman said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraq intends to 'cause damage or destruction' to its own oil fields if war breaks out, and the U.S. military has plans to secure and protect the fields in the event of hostilities, a senior U.S. defense official said on January 24, 2003. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told a Pentagon  briefing that 'a variety of intelligence sources' indicate that President Saddam Hussein  intends to 'cause damage or destruction to their oil fields.' An Iraqi worker climbs a structure at the al-Doura oil refinery outside Baghdad in this September 5, 2002. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)