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Saleh regrets "the United States and Britain obstructed the inspectors' return"
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BAGHDAD,
November 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iraqi satellite
television late Friday, November 8, reported the adoption of what it
called a new "unwarranted" resolution number 1441 by the
United Nations Security Council on Iraq,
news agencies reported.
The
television said: "The endorsement of this unwarranted resolution
has come about against the background of Iraq's
approval of the inspectors' return to ascertain that it is free of
weapons of mass destruction following weeks of pressure and blackmail
exercised by the U.S. administration of evil to ensure the endorsement
of its draft resolution on Iraq."
There
had been no immediate reaction earlier from the media or the
government of Iraq to the Security Council's unanimously adopted
resolution giving Baghdad one final
opportunity to comply with disarmament demands or face unspecified
"serious consequences".
Since
it agreed in September to allow the U.N. weapons inspectors back, Iraq
has repeatedly said no new resolution was needed.
But
earlier this week, when a deal seemed close, Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein said Iraq would consider co-operating with a resolution that
respected its sovereignty, security and independence, and was not
merely a pretext for war.
Now,
all eyes are on him to see how he will respond.
The
resolution will not be easy for Iraq to accept.
A
prominent member of the ruling Baath Party told the BBC it imposed
impossible conditions, and was written not to be implemented.
But,
as the Americans have made clear, Iraq now does not have much choice.
As
official media ignored the vote, many Iraqis tuned in to foreign
radios for news of the U.N. resolution.
The
official Iraqi News Agency (INA) was also mum on the new U.N.
resolution adopted by all 15 member states of the Security Council,
including Syria.
"As
soon as I was through with my iftar (fast-breaking meal during the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan), I tuned in to Radio Monte Carlo to
learn what was happening in the Security Council," said Kamel
Naim, a 37-year-old translator.
"I
was very disappointed when I learned that the U.S. draft was
unanimously adopted even though it ... gives the United States the
cover it has long sought to carry out an attack against Iraq," he
told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Let's
hope things go calmly and the Iraqi people are spared another American
aggression," said retired civil servant Ali Hussein, 55.
"Even
if Iraq accepts the new resolution, the United States ... will find a
thousand and one ways of using the (U.N. arms) inspectors to attack
Iraq," predicted Amal Mohammad, a 35-year-old housewife.
"Although
America was exposed by its hostile policies, it tried to conceal its
hidden designs to launch an aggression against Iraq by amending part
of the wording of its draft," said the political commentary on
Iraqi television.
Many
other Iraqis went about their fast-breaking meal without unduly
worrying about the vote in New York pending an official response to
the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441.
Just
hours before the vote, Baghdad charged that the U.S.-drafted
resolution was tailored to pave the way for a U.S. attack.
"Iraq
has stated that there is no need for a new Security Council resolution
if the objective is to verify that Iraq is free of weapons of mass
destruction," which it is, Trade Minister Mohammad Mahdi Saleh
told reporters.
"Iraq
demonstrated goodwill by accepting the return of (arms)
inspectors" and agreed to terms that "satisfied chief U.N.
inspector Hans Blix," he said.
"It
is regrettable that the United States and Britain obstructed the
inspectors' return and refused (to allow them to) return except by
issuing a new resolution that would lead to a military aggression
under an international cover," Saleh said.
In
Cairo, the Arab League said it "respected" U.N. Security
Council resolutions, in a cautious first reaction to a tough
U.S.-drafted resolution on disarming Iraq that was passed unanimously
on Friday.
"The
Arab League respects Security Council resolutions," League
spokesman Hisham Yussef told AFP, reacting to the council's adoption
of resolution 1441 setting out conditions for sending U.N. weapons
inspectors to Iraq.
"Some
Arab countries said, before the vote on the resolution, that they
would respect it," he said.
"The
repercussions of this resolution and the means of reacting to it will
be discussed during the Arab foreign ministers' meetings on Saturday
and Sunday" at the League's headquarters in Cairo, he said.
Iraqi
Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, who arrived in the Egyptian capital late
Friday, will take part in the meetings, which will also focus on the
two-year-old Palestinian uprising against Israel, Yussef said.
Arab
League chief Amr Mussa called last week for a "just and
reasonable" U.N. resolution on Iraq aimed at helping rather than
obstructing the work of U.N. weapons inspectors.
Meanwhile,
Egypt pledged Friday, after the UN unanimously approved the
U.S.-drafted resolution, to keep lobbying for a peaceful end to the
crisis.
"President
Hosni Mubarak has urged the Iraqi government since the start of the
crisis to respect the U.N. resolutions, accept the return of
inspectors and allow them to freely complete their mission,"
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said after a telephone
conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
"Egypt
will continue on this path considering the interest it has in finding
a resolution to the Iraqi problem by peaceful means and conforming to
international resolutions," he told reporters.
The
telephone conversation, initiated by Powell, came after the 15 members
of the UN Security Council adopted the new Iraq resolution.
Maher
added that Powell said the United States was hoping "Egypt will
continue to demand Iraq respect the (U.N.) resolution."
The
Egyptian foreign minister will also meet
Saturday, November 9, with his Iraqi counterpart, his ministry
announced separately.
Their
meeting will deal with the "latest developments on the Iraqi
file, in light of the new U.N. Security Council resolution," it
said.
