UN, Iraq Reach Agreement on Return of Arms Inspectors

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 02, 2002

UN, Iraq Reach Agreement on Return of Arms Inspectors

Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed El Baradei, chief UN inspector Hans Blix, and head of the Iraqi delegation Amir Al Sadi address the media in the Vienna International Center on Tuesday October 1, 2002. The UN and Iraqi officials have agreed on arrangements for a return of arms inspectors to Iraq, the Hans Blix said Tuesday, adding that the world body would have access to "all sites" in the country.

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UN, Iraq Reach Agreement

Iraq defies US threats to push through new UN resolution

Iraq said on Tuesday it would not yield to any US and British pressure to accept a possible new UN Security Council resolution about its disarmament.

"To those bad people we say clearly if they imagine that the beating of war drums would push Iraq to make concessions on its national rights and what has been written in the UN charter and relevant Security Council resolutions, they are wrong," said an official spokesman in a statement following a cabinet meeting chaired by President Saddam Hussein.

"If they imagine their evil pressure may push Iraq to accept theunacceptable, including a new UN Security Council resolution, they are wrong also," the official Iraqi News Agency quoted the spokesman as saying.

The defiant statement by the Iraqi cabinet came as the United States and Britain are engaged in a joint diplomatic offensive to win the support of France, Russia and China, the other three permanent members of the UN Security Council, for a draft new resolution against Iraq.

The proposed UN resolution will reportedly set a seven-day deadline for Saddam to accept all its demands and then open all suspected sites, including his palaces, to international weapons inspectors.

The tough demands are coupled with a warning that "all necessarymeans," including the use of force, would be applied against Iraq if it fails to come into line.

Iraq has been under sweeping UN sanctions since its August 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the embargo will not be lifted until the United Nations has verified that Iraq has eliminated all of its weapons of mass destruction and means of launching them.

Continuous spats about alleged espionage activities between Iraqand the UN arms inspectors, who were commissioned to verify that Iraq has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction, led to crisis in 1997 and 1998, and eventually the brief air war against Baghdad from Dec. 17-19, 1998.

In an official letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sept. 16, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said his government is ready to accept the UN weapon inspectors unconditionally.

UN cannot resume inspections without new resolution: Powell

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that UN weapons inspectors should not return to Iraq to resume inspections without a new and tough UN Security Council resolution.

��"I am convinced a new resolution is appropriate with tough consequences so we are not out here a year from now talking about this all over again," Powell said at a news briefing.

Powell was responding to reports that chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix reached an tentative agreement with Iraq earlier Tuesday in Vienna to resume the inspections which were suspended for more than four years.

"Dr. Blix is an agent of the Security Council and will carry out what the Security Council will do," Powell said.

He said the US position is that "he should get new instructionsin the form of a resolution."

In an interview with US media late Monday, Powell also expressed similar US opposition to the resumption of inspections under previous UN resolutions on Iraq.

The US and Britain are working hard at the United Nations to press for a new UN resolution which will automate the use of forcein case of Baghdad's failure to comply with it.

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