In
response to the Iraqi invitation to return to Baghdad before February
10, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General
Mohamed ElBaradei conditioned his acceptance on more Iraq cooperation
with arms experts.
"We
need to make sure there will be progress when we go there,"
ElBaradei told reporters at Vienna airport after returning from New
York where he and Blix briefed the U.N. Security Council on two months
of inspections in Iraq.
The
U.N. inspectors must have the right to meet privately with Iraqi
scientists and be able to use surveillance planes such as the American
U2 aircraft, he added.
"Private
interviews are very important to create confidence," ElBaradei
said, adding that this should be no problem if Iraq has nothing to
hide.
He
said Iraqi authorities should make clear to scientists that "it
is in their own national interest to speak to us directly in
private."
General
Hossam Mohammed Amin, who heads the Iraqi liaison mission with the
U.N. inspectors, said the United Nations "has asked us to
guarantee the safety of the planes, but Iraq's anti-aircraft artillery
is in daily confrontation with enemy U.S. and British planes.
"How
can we guarantee the safety of these (spy) planes?" Amin asked.
"We
have asked that these hostile (U.S.-British) acts be stopped during
the overflights by U2s but Blix has replied that he didn't have the
prerogative to do it."
Taking
up the claim that Baghdad was blocking interviews with Iraqi
scientists, the official asserted that Iraq had agreed with Blix and
El-Baradei on encouraging scientists to meet with U.N. experts and
most of them have agreed to do that.
But,
if some scientists refuse to be interviewed that is their own decision
and we can not force them to meet U.N. experts, he stressed.
Iraq
announced Thursday it was inviting ElBaradei and Blix to return to
Baghdad before February 10 to hold fresh talks on cooperation with the
U.N. mission.
The
two men will report to the U.N. Security Council on February 14 on
progress in Iraq, an IAEA spokeswoman said Friday.
Possible
EU summit on Iraq
Meanwhile,
the Greek E.U. presidency hinted an E.U. summit could be held in
mid-February if "crucial decisions" regarding Iraq need to
be taken.
"We
are not going to call a E.U. summit to discuss the letter" signed
by eight European leaders supporting the tough U.S. stance on Iraq,
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis told reporters on Friday.
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Frattini
said the letter stressed "the need for continued pressure on
Iraq to convince it to disarm peacefully."
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The
letter was signed by the leaders of Britain, Denmark, Italy, Portugal
and Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.
The
move has laid bare Europe's divisions over how to deal with mounting
American threats to wage war on Iraq, unilaterally if necessary.
But
European officials said the 15-nation bloc was united in its efforts
to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Iraq.
"I
do believe that we do have a common approach in one thing -- to see a
peaceful resolution according to (U.N. Security Council resolution)
1441, help Blix and of course see the U.N. as the key player in this
affair," Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, now visiting
Turkey, told a press conference.
Italian
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, also member of the delegation
visiting Ankara, tried to play down concerns over divisions in Europe.
Frattini
said the letter, which Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed,
stressed "the need for continued pressure on Iraq to convince it
to disarm peacefully."
"I
think it is not in contradiction" to the stand agreed by E.U.
leaders in Brussels earlier this week, said Frattini.
In
Berlin, a German government spokesman welcomed the idea of a summit,
saying that it could help build a common position on Iraq.
But
Greek officials privately said they were concerned that a summit
meeting would worsen the situation.
"At
the present time, a E.U. summit risks highlighting the Union's
divisions rather than contributing to a common position," a
government source said on condition of anonymity.
