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“Inspectors
will have unfettered access wherever they want to go,” Amer
Saadi pledged, but…
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BAGHDAD,
September 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Iraq’s
unprecedented promise to open all arms sites to inspections and
rebuttal of British charges about the pursuit of weapons of mass
destruction did nothing to dissuade Washington against swift military
action.
Baghdad,
answering calls for total access after agreeing last week to allow
U.N. weapons experts to return to the country without conditions,
announced that all doors would be open.
“Unfettered
access” to suspected weapons sites would include those listed by
British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a dossier he published Tuesday,
September 24, in a bid to bolster the U.S. case to oust
President Saddam Hussein.
“Inspectors
will have unfettered access wherever they want to go,” presidential
adviser Amer Saadi pledged Tuesday night.
“If
there is no interference from outside parties, we expect them to be
here” in mid-October, he added.
Saadi
suggested Blair should pass on his dossier to UNMOVIC, the body in
charge of Iraq’s disarmament.
“Iraq
does not want to go back to (developing) weapons of mass destruction,
and this is a final decision,” Saadi said.
He
dismissed as “absolute nonsense” Britain’s charge that Iraq
could be as little as a year away from having a nuclear bomb. “This
is nonsense, absolute nonsense,” he said.
In
the dossier, London also alleged that Iraq can deploy chemical and
biological weapons within 45 minutes.
Saadi
said London sought to “incite domestic and world public opinion
against Iraq” and pave the way for the adoption of new “unfair”
U.N. Security Council resolutions ahead of a U.S.-led war.
“We
expect a strike any time ... The war continues daily against Iraq, in
the northern and southern ‘no-fly’ zones, Saadi said.
U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell gave further credence to Iraq’s
fears that whatever the regime does it will eventually come under
attack.
Powell
refused to rule out the possibility that the United States might try
to topple Saddam, even if he complies with all U.N. resolutions on
weapons inspections.
The
secretary told the BBC disarmament of Iraq was the main priority, but
baulked when asked if Saddam could stay in power if he obeyed. “I
think we’ll have to wait and see,” he said. “We’ll have to see
how he responds to the pressure he is under from the international
community.
“That
pressure has to be maintained on Iraq until the U.N. is satisfied that
he has got rid of these weapons or allowed inspectors in to make sure
of that.
“That’s
the only way to do it, and then we will see whether or not that is
adequate or whether more action is required.”
“The
U.S. continues to believe that the best way to disarm Iraq is through
a regime change.”
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The
U.S. remained adamant that a regime change was the best
way to disarm Iraq |
U.S.
President George W. Bush seized on Blair’s dossier as an impetus for
swift and bold action against Baghdad.
Bush
again urged the U.S. Congress to “act now to pass a resolution which
will hold Saddam to account for a decade of defiance” of the United
Nations.
U.S.
lawmakers have focused debate on the broad powers offered by the draft
resolution Bush sent them, which would allow the president to “use
all means” to defend the United States.
Top
opposition Democratic Senator Tom Daschle said lawmakers would likely
reach a consensus by the weekend after amendments to the language.
But,
he added, “by and large, Republicans and Democrats are likely to
give the benefit of the doubt to the president.”
Blair’s
study however failed to convince some wavering allies in both Europe
and the Middle East.
Asian
leaders, too, were unconvinced by the revelations, which analysts said
highlighted no new information.
Chinese
Prime Minister Zhu Rongji warned of “severe consequences” if
military action was launched against Iraq without a U.N. mandate.
French
President Jacques Chirac said that most countries would not back a new
U.N. resolution which would allow the use of force against Iraq.
