Russia to Study US Evidence of Iraq's Weapon Programs

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 05, 2003

Russia to Study US Evidence of Iraq's Weapon Programs

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Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanovsaid Tuesday that his country will carefully study the informationabout Iraq's weapons of mass destruction Washington will present to the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 5.

"The United States came up with the initiative to hold a UN Security Council session to present additional information on WMD issues in Iraq. We will carefully examine this information, but itis the international inspectors who must examine it first of all,"Ivanov told a press conference before leaving for the United States to attend the session Wednesday.

Ivanov pointed out that it is the international weapon inspectors who are authorized by the UN Security Council to consider such information, make the appropriate conclusions, and submit them to the Council.

The UN Security Council is expected to convene again to addressthis issue some time later, he said.

Ivanov also called on all countries that have information aboutIraq's weapons of mass destruction to present it to the international inspectors.

"This would be a step toward resolving the Iraq problem, and this resolution would be a political one, which, in our view, is very important," Ivanov said.

At Wednesday's UN Security Council meeting, US Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to present what the United States says will be new evidence of Iraq's weapons programs and its linksto al-Qaida international terrorism network.

Russia has repeatedly opposed any unilateral military action against Iraq without the sanction of the UN Security Council and urged political settlement of the crisis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, warned last week ofa possible toughening of its stance if Iraq created problems to the inspectors. He also said Monday that a new UN resolution mightbe needed if UN inspectors are not satisfied with the possibilities of working in Iraq provided to them.

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