NEWS: US rejects Iraqi invitation to Congress team

Adam · Aug 6, 2002

US rejects Iraqi invitation to Congress team
By David Usborne

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — The White House and a top Senate Democrat yesterday dismissed an Iraqi invitation to the US Congress to inspect suspected weapons development sites, saying they wanted action from Iraq, not talk. “There’s no need for discussion. What there is a need for is for the regime in Baghdad to live up to its commitment to disarm,” US National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said. He spoke during a visit by US President George W. Bush to Pittsburgh.

Iraq earlier yesterday invited Congress to send a mission to Baghdad and said it would be given free access to any sites alleged to be involved in the development of weapons of mass destruction.

But Delaware Democrat Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also quickly poured cold water on the offer. “Iraq must end its stalling tactics,” he said in a statement. “If it has nothing to hide, it should comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions and allow immediate, unfettered access to UN weapons inspectors — which it has refused to do for nearly four years.”

McCormack reiterated the Bush administration’s view that inspections were not the ultimate goal of international pressure on Iraq — rather, the goal is the elimination of any Iraqi capability to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, however, warned yesterday that any attack on Iraq would be “unwise” given the “current circumstances” in the Middle East. “I think it would be unwise to attack Iraq, given the current circumstances of what’s happening in the Middle East,” he told reporters in response to questions about the hardening position of the United States about regime change in Baghdad.

The United States is also committed to a policy of ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, which officials said is not linked to the inspections issue. The invitation, passed to both Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle from Poland, which represents US interests in Iraq, was extended by Iraqi Parliament Speaker Saadun Hammadi, who urged US lawmakers to see that US government claims “are not true.”

The fact-finding team could “bring with it information provided by your (US) government on the false claims that Iraq has produced chemical and biological weapons and is about to produce nuclear arms,” Hammadi said in the letter, carried by the official INA news agency from Baghdad. The letter came five days after Iraq invited chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to Baghdad to discuss all pending issues on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair came under fresh pressure yesterday to allow Parliament to have a say in whether or not he joins any US-led military action against Iraq. One of Blair’s most vocal critics in his own Labour Party, veteran Member of Parliament Tam Dalyell, told Blair that for MPs the issue of Iraq was the “most important decision of their political lives”.

In an open letter to the prime minister, Dalyell said Blair had a moral obligation to recall Parliament from its summer break and debate the issue with his political colleagues. His intervention followed a warning from former British defense chief Lord Bramall that Blair risked being dragged into a long, messy Middle East war if he joined the United States in a military assault to topple Saddam.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said yesterday that Germany would not participate in military “adventures” in Iraq, as his party strengthened its resistance to possible US strikes against Baghdad. Speaking at a rally in his home town of Hanover at the start of the campaign for a September election, Schroeder insisted that Germany would require a new United Nation mandate before it would consider participating in military action against Iraq. (The Independent)

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Adam · Aug 6, 2002

UPDATE: UN asks Iraq to confirm weapons inspectors pledge

UN asks Iraq to confirm weapons inspectors pledge

Kofi Annan wants Saddam Hussein to clarify if he will accept the return of UN weapons inspectors under Security Council conditions.

If he agrees, the UN Secretary-General says he will look at Iraq's invitation to the UN chief weapons inspector in a different light.

Mr Annan has discussed the invitation from Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri with the 15 members of the Security Council.

He raised for the first time the possibility of the return of inspectors, who have been barred from Iraq for nearly four years.

"All members of the council agree that we should do everything to get the inspectors back, and if Iraq is open to that sort of idea, there are practical bases for moving forward, and this is something we are going to explore in the next letter to Iraq," Mr Annan said.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said the secretary-general planned to send the letter today.

"We will need to get them to understand the requirements of the council, and we are prepared to deal with them on that basis," Mr Annan said.

"Depending upon the answer, there could be discussions at the technical level."

"Whether this is a real break and a real change in attitude is something that we will have to test."

Story filed: 10:47 Tuesday 6th August 2002

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Thor · Aug 6, 2002

Stupid yanks. This is what they wanted

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Adam · Aug 6, 2002

No. What they wanted is another display in the middle east. Probably around the mid-term elections. If they accept the offer, they won't have their excuse any more.

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