A rchive Date
[ 22-02-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.N ]
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[http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/world/1790225
Blix orders Iraq to start destroying all missiles
New York Times
Feb. 21, 2003, 11:35PM
UNITED NATIONS - The chief U.N. weapons inspector demanded on Friday that Iraq start destroying - within a week - all its al-Samoud 2 missiles and any illegally imported engines designed for use in the rockets, which U.N. experts say exceed the allowed range of 92 miles.
The demand from Hans Blix, with its blunt March 1 deadline, appeared to set the stage for a diplomatic showdown over the next two weeks that determines whether Iraq faces war.
The United States and Britain continued on Friday to press for a brief resolution - to be presented next week - that declares Iraq in breach of its disarmament obligations.
Should Iraq fail to comply with Blix's demand to destroy the short-range al-Samoud missile, this could be seen as lending credence to the American argument that Saddam Hussein never intends to disarm.
In outlining his demands in a letter to Saddam's top weapons expert, Dr. Amir al-Saadi, Blix cited the findings of a panel of experts who met earlier this month to determine whether Iraq had violated U.N. bans on the range of its missiles.
American diplomats had no public comment on the letter. But one diplomat said, "We are very pleased," adding that it seemed unlikely that Iraq would destroy a system that it had spent heavily to build.
The Bush administration also reported significant progress on another diplomatic front on Friday, with officials saying that broad agreement was reached with Turkey on a $15-billion aid package that is expected to prompt Ankara to approve the use of Turkey as a base for American troops in case of a war with Iraq.
Blix's letter, which diplomats said was presented to the Iraqi envoy, Mohammed Aldouri, during an hourlong meeting late on Friday afternoon, followed a day of meetings in which American and British diplomats tried to build support for their proposed Security Council resolution.
The U.S.-British plan resolution will be coupled with a demand for a vote within three weeks, diplomatic sources told the Los Angeles Times.
At present, neither France, Russia nor China - three permanent members of the Security Council - have endorsed the idea of a second resolution and have urged giving Blix's inspectors more time to disarm Iraq peacefully.
American and British diplomats have argued that the language in the Nov. 8 resolution that launched the current weapons inspections - and was passed by a unanimous 15-0 vote - authorizes the use of force in the case of continued Iraqi failure to comply. Those who oppose this position argue that a variety of tests must be met to determine if such a failure has occurred.
Without referring to the missile demand directly, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Friday that if President Saddam Hussein of Iraq "complies" with weapons inspectors' requests "or leaves the country tomorrow, there will be no war."
Despite the agreement on money between Turkey and the United States, the two are still ironing out a separate point of contention, over the size and role of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, officials said. Turkey plans to send large numbers of troops into Iraq with American forces and carry out relief efforts for refugees.
American officials said they hoped to resolve all the financial and military issues by Monday or Tuesday. But some acknowledged that the disagreement on the role of the Turkish military in Iraq could prove to be a long-term irritant, no matter how it is resolved for now.
In Baghdad on Friday, Iraq's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, offered to open talks with the United States. But there was no response from U.S. officials.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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