Annan Insists Iraq Accepts U.N. Terms

BAGHDAD, August 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iraqi MPs held a special session Wednesday, August 7, to discuss anew U.S. threats to topple President Saddam Hussein’s regime, in the wake of the U.S. rejection of two new arms initiatives and Kofi Annan’s insistence that Baghdad implement Security Council resolutions on U.N. terms.

The parliament convened the second such emergency meeting in a month, a day after the U.N. chief told Iraq it must confirm it will comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1284, approved in 1999.

“I look forward to receiving from your government a confirmation that it accepts the sequence of steps outlined above, along with a formal invitation” to U.N. weapons inspectors, Annan said in a letter sent to Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri with copies to all Security Council ambassadors on Tuesday, August 6.

“It is my sincere hope that a speedy resumption of inspections will help facilitate the resolution of all outstanding issues.”

Annan’s letter emphasizes that Iraq must comply with every point of Resolution 1284, especially noting “the key remaining disarmament tasks to be completed by Iraq.”

With Iraq increasingly the target of U.S. threats of a military campaign, Sabri extended an invitation Thursday to chief weapons inspector Hans Blix to Baghdad for talks on the possible resumption of weapons inspections, which were halted in 1998.

Blix ruled out a visit, saying such talks would “raise expectations without foundation”.

The White House also dismissed outright a second invitation from Baghdad to the U.S. Congress to send a fact-finding team to investigate any Iraqi development of weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile, U.S. preparations for war against Iraq, which has been under crippling U.N sanctions since invading Kuwait in 1990, are showing no sign of slacking, despite mounting concern among U.S. allies in Europe and the Middle East.

Army General Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. forces in the Gulf, briefed President George W. Bush at the White House Monday on a new plan for a significantly slimmed down invasion force, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

But German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Wednesday stressed his strong reservations about an eventual military attack on Iraq.

“This fight (against terror) is not yet won and that is why I am warning against an attack on Iraq,” he said in the German tabloid Bild.

“The Middle East needs a new peace and not a new war. That is the aim of our policy. And it is only that which corresponds with the political and economic necessities,” Schroeder said.

Iraq has been asking the United Nations to answer 19 questions before the return of the international inspectors. These questions are regarding the disarmament, the method of inspection, the relationship of Iraq with the United Nationals and the threat of using forces against Iraq. However, Annan has not given the Iraqi government any responses for their inquiries.

British daily newspaper the Telegraph said Wednesday that despite the increasingly loud demands around the world for any military action against Iraq to be backed by the United Nations, Washington is unlikely to seek such approval, saying that it already has ample legal authority.

The American-led war against Iraq in 1991 was carried out under U.N. Security Council resolution 678, which gave member states the right to take “all necessary means … to restore international peace and security in the area” after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, reported the paper.

But, more than a decade later, diplomats said yesterday that Washington was increasingly suspicious of the U.N., seeing it as a constraint on its freedom of action, rather than the essential means of legitimizing military intervention to remove the Iraqi dictator.

“Ultimately the decision on whether to seek U.N. approval is a political issue rather than a legal matter,” said Jonathan Eyal, director of studies at the Royal United Services Institute, reported the paper.

“The Americans would dearly like to have a resolution, but they need to be absolutely clear that they can get it through.

“If they seek a resolution and it is vetoed by Russia or China, the Americans will have shot down their own argument that they have enough justification at the moment.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, six Americans staged a fast outside U.N. headquarters in Baghdad to protest against U.S. threats to attack Iraq, reported Pakistani newspaper the News.

The activists, members of the Chicago-based Voices in the Wilderness, said their campaign was aimed at encouraging the United Nations and people around the world to break ranks with the United States.