An Iraqi welder destroys a casting chamber for the banned al-Samoud 2 missiles in Rasheed, south of Baghdad

BAGHDAD, March 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Another six of Iraq's Al-Samoud 2 missiles were destroyed under UN supervision Sunday, March 2, bringing the number in two days to 10, presidential advisor Amer al-Saadi said, adding that Iraq is doing its best to remove any excuses for a U.S. war on Iraq.

He said the destruction, and progress in UN-led interviews with scientists, proved Baghdad was showing pro-active cooperation with UN inspectors, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

Iraq is doing its utmost to remove any excuses for a U.S.-led war against it, al-Saadi added.

"My task, my only task (is) to remove all excuses for waging war," Saadi said.

"If war today takes place, it is not because Iraq did not do all it should regarding disarmament."

Saadi told a press conference in Baghdad that a casting chamber -- used in the manufacturing process for the missiles -- had also been destroyed.

Meanwhile, UN inspectors conducted three private interviews in recent days with Iraqi scientists, he said.

"So as you can see, there is pro-active cooperation on the Iraqi side."

UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix had ordered Iraq to scrap the missiles after UN experts said they exceeded the 150-kilometer (93-mile) range allowed under disarmament terms.

The first four were destroyed Saturday, March 1.

Iraqi authorities have said there are around 100 Al-Samoud 2 missiles. Of those, some 73 have been delivered to the army, according to diplomats.

The destruction order was considered as a key test of Iraq's willingness to cooperate with the inspectors probing its alleged weapons of mass destruction programs.

A Second Motion

On a related separate development, Turkey's ruling party said Sunday it was considering a new parliamentary ballot on the deployment of U.S. troops here for a possible Iraq war, a day after lawmakers rejected the U.S. request in a narrow vote.

"This issue is being evaluated by the party leadership and the government," Justice and Development Party (AKP) chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters here after talks with top party and government officials.

"If deemed necessary, this step (a second motion) will be taken," he added.

The announcement came amid what observers were calling a serious danger to relations between Turkey and the United States, after MPs on Saturday declined to give the green light for 62,000 U.S. soldiers to deploy in Turkey.

The vote delivered a serious blow to U.S. plans to invade Iraq from the north and blocked Turkish plans to send troops to northern Iraq to keep check on the region's breakaway Kurds.

A senior party official, Eyup Fatsa, meanwhile, said that there was no plans for a new motion "in the foreseeable future".

The AKP controls nearly two-thirds of the 550-seat legislature, but it failed by three votes to win support for the measure despite intense efforts to ensure MPs toed the government line.

Commentators warned Sunday that denying the United States access would deprive Turkey of vital financial aid to offset the costs of an Iraq war, and cut Ankara out of any say in Iraq's post-war reconstruction.

"If the Turkish decision is not changed, it is inevitable it will cause a big earthquake in Turkish-U.S. ties," the Hurriyet newspaper said.

But both Erdogan and Prime Minister Abdullah Gul maintained on Sunday that bilateral ties would remain intact.

"The strategic partnership and the historical ties between the U.S. and Turkey cannot deteriorate in one day just as they have not been built in one day." Erdogan said.

Gul, meanwhile, said Turkish-U.S. ties were "not linked to a single motion."