17 January 2003, 13:06  Chief Inspectors to Ask Security Council for More Time in Iraq

Paris, Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Leaders of the United Nations inspections in Iraq will ask the Security Council for more time to assess whether the country has weapons of mass destruction. Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, said he and chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix will make the request to avoid a war. ``If we can avoid that, even spending a few more months to do our job, that is time well spent,'' ElBaradei told reporters in Paris at a news conference with Blix and French President Jacques Chirac. ``Both Dr. Blix and I will tell the Security Council that we need time for the inspections to take their course.''
The regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein dismissed yesterday's UN announcement that inspectors found empty warheads capable of carrying chemical agents as ``a storm in a teacup.'' The U.S. is building up a force in the Persian Gulf for a possible war against Iraq, as President George W. Bush said patience with Iraq will run out. Blix will go to London later today for a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair. France and the U.K., along with the U.S., Russia and China, are permanent Security Council members and, as such, have veto power over resolutions. ``We are not there to humiliate Iraq,'' Blix said in Paris. ``We need their help. We need their active cooperation for their sake and for the sake of peace.''
Security Council Decision
Chirac said the Security Council must rule on whether military action is justified to force Iraq to disarm on the basis of arms inspectors' reports. ``The inspectors have received their mission from the Security Council and it's for the Security Council and the Security Council alone to make a decision'' on whether Iraq has met resolutions on disarmament, Chirac said. A UN team found 11 warheads yesterday at the Ukhaider ammunition storage area about 70 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of Baghdad, the UN said. General Hossam Mohammad Amin, Iraq's chief liaison officer with the inspectors, said they were ``just empty rockets which are expired'' and the incident is ``no more than a storm in a teacup,'' the Associated Press said. The UN will assess whether the finding is a violation of UN resolutions demanding Iraq reveals its weapons arsenal. Bush, in comments yesterday, said U.S. patience for Iraq to disarm ``will run out.'' The U.S. is expanding its military forces in the Persian Gulf and will have about 137,000 troops in the region by mid-February. Bush has vowed to lead a coalition to use force to disarm Iraq if Hussein fails to comply with UN resolutions. UN inspectors will report to the Security Council Jan. 27 on whether Iraq is meeting UN demands.
Hussein Vows Resistance
Hussein vowed to resist U.S. force, in a speech to his people carried by Cable News Network and other broadcasters. U.S. troops face ``suicide'' if they attack Iraq, he said. The speech marked the 12th anniversary of the start of the Persian Gulf war, which ended Iraq's occupation of Kuwait. The Iraqi leader criticized UN sanctions and the ``aggression'' of the regime's enemies that followed the war, calling on his people to ``ambush'' those enemies. Hussein also blamed Israel and its U.S. ``masters'' for provoking a confrontation, saying ``criminal Zionists'' have ``come to confront our nation.'' In addition to the 11 warheads, UN inspectors found one requiring further evaluation, the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission said in a statement. The team selected samples from one of the warheads for chemical testing and took X- rays of the others. The warheads were in ``excellent condition'' and were similar to ones Iraq imported during the late 1980s, the UN said.
Not Enough Evidence
While UN officials said it was too soon to reach any conclusion about the significance of the find, CNN cited an unidentified UN official in Baghdad as saying the warheads didn't constitute solid enough evidence that Iraq has illegal weapons. Amir al-Saadi, a senior adviser to Hussein, said yesterday in Baghdad the warheads were included in a 1996 declaration of Iraq's weapons programs and again in the 12,000-page declaration given to the Security Council on Dec. 7. The UN team, for the first time, visited the homes of two Iraqi scientists in Baghdad yesterday in search of documents, the UN cited Hiro Ueki, a spokesman for the inspectors, as saying. ``Some documents related to past proscribed activities, dating from the early 1990s, were taken for further evaluation,'' Ueki said.
Shaker al-Jibouri, a nuclear scientist, told AP the inspectors spent two hours in his home. ``This is a provocative operation,'' he said. ``They did not take away any documents but they looked at personal research papers.'' Saudi Arabia wants to depose Hussein's regime to prevent a war, Time magazine reported yesterday, citing unidentified Western and Arab diplomats. The Saudi plan involves Iraqi generals overthrowing Hussein and his inner circle, the magazine said, and would include an amnesty if a regime change is orchestrated. An amnesty plan would require a UN Security Council resolution, the magazine said. Hussein may accept exile under the proposal, Time said. //www.quote.bloomberg.com

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