UN Inspectors Make Progress in Iraq Talks

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 01, 2002

UN Inspectors Make Progress in Iraq Talks

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UN-Iraq talks on the return of arms inspectors to Iraq made progress on Monday but could not dispel the looming possibility of a US-led war to destroy any weapons of mass destruction harbored by Baghdad.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency which is hosting the meeting, gave a guardedly optimistic assessment of the first day of talks between Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and Iraqi arms experts in Vienna.

But at UN headquarters in New York, the United States intensified lobbying of the 10 rotating UN Security Council members in support of a resolution that would allow Washington to strike Iraq if it perceived violations.

"The council needs to set forth in clear terms what Iraq has to do to demonstrate its desire to disarm," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

Most Security Council members have reservations about a text that would allow the United States to decide by itself when Iraq has violated provisions in the resolution without awaiting for word from the arms inspectors.

"The trigger for military action is the main objection," one council envoy said. "On the other hand, most members value their ties with the United States above anything else."

President Bush has declared his intention is to force Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power, with or without the approval of the United Nations accusing him of threatening U.S. security by seeking nuclear, germ and chemical weapons.

Bush administration officials have repeatedly said the return of arms inspectors, who left Iraq in 1998 after repeated disputes over access to suspected arms sites, would not by itself be enough to avert war.

ElBaradei, whose agency is hosting the Vienna talks on logistics and other details, told reporters: "I think we are making progress, but we still have a lot of work to do ... We are trying to restore as much of the anytime, anyplace and unfettered access as possible."

The Vienna talks are the first test of Iraq's cooperation since Baghdad agreed on Sept. 16 to the unconditional return of the inspectors under threat of a U.S. military strike.

"I think it's a quite businesslike atmosphere. I think they are trying their best to move forward, to accommodate our requirements," ElBaradei said.

Blair Backing Bush

General Amir al-Saadi, a technical adviser to Saddam, agreed the talks were businesslike but declined to give further details.

Bush has the enthusiastic support of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in his anti-Saddam campaign but is facing strong resistance from two other veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council, France and Russia.

"We do not want to give carte blanche to military action," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin wrote in the daily Le Monde.

But President Jacques Chirac hinted that Paris was keeping its options open in the war on terror.

"If international prevention efforts fail, if threats jeopardize our security or that of Europe or of nations to which we have special ties, we should be ready to assume our responsibilities," he said. "It could be a question of life or death."

China, the other permanent member of the Security Council, remained skeptical of the proposed U.S. resolution, repeating its wish for a political solution after a British envoy handed the draft to officials in Beijing.

Bush also faces opposition at home in Washington, where prominent Democratic and Republican senators warned the White House on Monday they wanted a central role for the United Nations in any attack on Iraq.

Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a leading Republican skeptic of Bush's Iraq policies, said the prospects for creating a democratic Iraq that could help stabilize the Middle East hinged on getting international backing for any U.S. action against Saddam.

"Diplomacy is essential for creating the international political environment that will be required for any action we take in Iraq, especially how we sustain a democratic transition in a post-Saddam Iraq," Hagel said in a speech.

Congressional budget analysts on Monday estimated the cost of fighting a war with Iraq at between $6 billion and $9 billion a month, with preparing for a conflict and winding down after it adding another $14 billion to $20 billion to the total.

It is the latest in a series of war cost estimates, some ranging as high as $200 billion, which have garnered attention on Capitol Hill in light of growing U.S. budget woes.

In Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry suggested that the most recent U.S. and British air raids in the no-fly zones over Iraq had been timed to coincide with the opening of the Vienna talks.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer rejected the charge, saying Iraq's "actions are defiance of international law, international rule, of military attacks on coalition aircraft."

Source: Agencies

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