Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Bush, Blair Send Fresh Warnings to Saddam
US President George W. Bush said Tuesday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was not disarming as required by the United Nations and he again warned that "time is running out."
US President George W. Bush said Tuesday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was not disarming as required by the United Nations and he again warned that "time is running out."
"It's clear to me now that he is not disarming. And surely our friends have learned lessons from the past," Bush said after meeting a group of economists at the White House.
The US president repeated his threat to disarm Iraq with a "coalition of the willing" and compared Iraqi claims that it has abandoned its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction to "a rerun of a bad movie."
"He is delaying. He's deceiving. He's asking for time. He's playing hide-and-seek with inspectors," Bush said. "The United States of America, in the name of peace, will continue to insist he does disarm, and we will keep the pressure on Saddam Hussein."
When asked how much time he would give the Iraqi president to comply, Bush said, "I will let you know when the moment has come."
Bush has threatened military action against Iraq if it refuses to abide by UN resolutions calling for it to disarm. Baghdad repeatedly has denied possessing chemical, nuclear or biological weapons.