Iraq destroyed a second batch of banned missiles and Turkey held up the Pentagon's battle plans, handing more ammunition to France and other countries opposed to any U.S.-led rush to war against Baghdad. Baghdad made the destruction of its arsenal of some 120 al-Samoud 2 missiles, expected to take two weeks, a key test of world opinion on its cooperation with the United Nations, warning it would stop if Washington launched any war without U.N. authorization. 

Bulldozers were at work destroying another six al-Samoud 2 missiles north of Baghdad on Sunday under the eyes of U.N. inspectors who had ruled they exceeded a 93-mile range permitted under decade-old U.N. disarmament rules.

The first four missiles were scrapped on Saturday, just hours before a deadline set by chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix.

They were crushed whole -- engine, electronics and all -- except for the warheads, which were to be dealt with later.

Dimitri Perricos, head of the inspection team, said the inspectors had wanted to blow up the missiles -- "it is faster" -- but had left the choice to the Iraqis.

Blix, due to make another key report on Friday to the U.N. Security Council on Iraqi compliance, said last week destruction of the missiles was "a significant piece of real disarmament."

Iraq Opens Talks on VX Nerve Gas & Anthrax Stocks

Iraq also opened talks on Sunday with U.N. arms inspectors on VX nerve gas and anthrax stocks it says it has destroyed, posing further problems for the United States and close ally Britain which are pressing a wary U.N. Security Council to back a new resolution paving the way for war.

Inspectors said they had interviewed a biological weapons scientist and a missile expert on Friday in private and without tape recorders, something they have long demanded as the only way to prevent intimidation by the government.

Washington Rethinks War Strategy After Turkey Rebuff

Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan, speaking as U.S. Navy ships waited off Turkey's coast to deploy 62,000 troops and armor, held out little hope to Washington that his country's parliament might reconsider its narrow vote on Saturday to bar U.S. forces from using Turkish soil as a launch pad to attack Iraq.

Officials from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were due to meet again on Monday to discuss the issue as Washington pressed for a final answer.

The Pentagon says it can draw up alternative plans for a war against Iraq without using Turkey as a northern front, but analysts believe such a campaign would be slower, more costly and far more risky.

The United States and Britain are rapidly building up a force of nearly 200,000 troops in Kuwait, and it is an open secret the Pentagon would like to launch any war before Iraq's fierce summer heat from April makes combat conditions tougher.

In a sign of how important Turkey is to its plans, Washington has offered Ankara up to DLRS 30 billion in grants and loan guarantees to shore up a frail economy recovering from its deepest recession since 1945. A DLRS 16 billion IMF loan package could also now be seriously in question.

With so much at stake, Turkey rushed to repair ties with Washington and appealed for calm when markets reopen on Monday. But Erdogan offered little clarity when asked if a new parliamentary motion could be considered.

An Aggressive Shift in Anglo-American 'No-Fly' Zone Strategy

There was fresh evidence that the Pentagon has Saddam firmly in its sights if he fails to satisfy Bush's demands.

Senior U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been an aggressive shift in strategy in so-called "no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq enforced by U.S. and British warplanes.

New targets included surface-to-surface missile systems and multiple-launch rockets that could be used against ground troops in an invasion or against neighboring countries.

"The U.S. military is taking advantage of the no-fly zones to prepare the battle space for war," said Lexington Institute defense analyst Loren Thompson.

No Sign of Letting up in Washington's Attempts to Get UN Backing for War

The United States accused Iraq of playing a "game of deception" and hiding weapons of mass destruction. Washington showed no sign of letting up in its drive for U.N. backing, despite fresh opposition from France and Russia, two of the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council.

The White House signaled again that President Bush believed the world should make clear to Saddam it was time to finally deliver on U.N. demands to surrender any nuclear, chemical, biological weapons and long-range missiles. Iraq denies it has such weapons.

Bush has said he will lead what calls a "coalition of the willing" to disarm Iraq if the United Nations fails to act.

Saddam's top scientific adviser General Amir al-Saadi said Iraq was providing "full" cooperation to the United Nations.

"If it turns out that in early stages during this month America is not going the legal way...why should we continue (destroying the missiles)?" he said in a fresh show of Iraqi defiance to U.S. threats of war.

The United States and Britain are likely to seek U.N. backing for war in the form of a resolution by the Security Council in the days after Blix presents his latest report on Friday. They have already presented a draft resolution.

Blix's comments on the missiles being a significant sign of Iraqi disarmament will not help Washington and London in what is a furious campaign to win over at least five doubters on the 15-member Council to get the nine votes needed. The United States and Britain have the support of Spain and Bulgaria.

They must avoid a veto by France, Russia and China.

A French Alternative to War

French President Jacques Chirac repeated his view, backed by Russia and China, that the Iraqi crisis should be resolved through U.N. inspections as long as Baghdad cooperated fully.

"There is an alternative to war. Use of force should be the last resort," Chirac said in Algiers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also called for a peaceful solution and showed no sign of abandoning his suggestion that Moscow could veto any measure endorsing war.

But observers have said Russia is unlikely to risk endangering the anti-terror alliance it formed with Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Key Developments Concerning Iraq

*_ Inspectors take samples of materials inside eight bombs recovered by Iraq at al-Aziziya, an abandoned helicopter airfield 60 miles southeast of Baghdad where Iraq says it destroyed R-400 bombs filled with biological weapons in 1991.

*_ An Iraqi scientist refused to give an interview with weapons inspectors, who spoke to a biological expert a day earlier. Two other scientists on Saturday refused to be interviewed without a tape recorder or witness.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Iraqi welder destroys a casting chamber for the banned al-Samoud 2 missiles in Rasheed, south of Baghdad on March 2, 2003Photo by Akram Saleh/Reuters
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