Iraq Chat Politics & News                 Page 2

"Sad day for the United Nations and the world": Annan

Merry Christmas and Happy Ramathan to the Iraqi Children the U.N. U.K. and U.S. Way..! ):

As most children all over the world are waiting for their Christmas presents, our Iraqi children are not any different, as they set in their dark cold rooms awaiting Mr. Buttler Present to them, and that is to give the green light to the U.S. and Britain to kill them.  As of today 12/16/1998 it looks like Mr. Buttler will deliver as he promised his employer the U.N. I mean the U.S. oh well what's the difference. God Save our Children.

President Saddam Recalls Gulf War As Tension Rises 12/16/1998

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - President Saddam Hussein urged his people to confront Western
``aggression'' as they did in the 1991 Gulf War as Iraq and the United States edged closer to military
confrontation Wednesday.

Saddam invoked the memory of what Iraq calls the ``Mother of all Battles'' as U.N. weapons
inspectors pulled out of the country, accusing Baghdad of refusing to cooperate.

The United States and Britain, which came within minutes of attacking Iraq when it last defied arms inspections just over a month ago, both stressed they could strike without warning this time.

President Clinton, bracing for an impeachment vote later this week by the House of Representatives, met foreign policy advisers to discuss the crisis. Britain said Iraq was making a grave error.

Saddam met top aides to discuss ``necessary precautions and measures to confront American and British aggression,'' a statement by the Iraqi leadership said.

``We call on you, Iraqis, women and men, after relying on God, to throw out their dreams and their failed visions and prove by solid facts that they will fail as they have failed during the Mother of Battles,'' the statement said.

Ninety-two inspectors and support staff of the U.N. Special Commission on arms inspections (UNSCOM) were evacuated to
Bahrain following a U.N. report accusing Iraq of breaking its promise to cooperate fully with their work.

UNSCOM is in charge of efforts to eliminate Iraq's biological, chemical and ballistic arms. The International Atomic Energy
Agency, which deals with nuclear weapons, said it was also pulling its inspectors out of Iraq.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said the U.N. report was aimed at giving the United States justification for military
strikes.

``The report is ill-intentioned and in particular aimed to justify American and British military aggression against Iraq,'' Aziz was
quoted as saying by the official Iraqi News Agency.

Russia called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, while a French government spokesman said Paris still hoped a military strike could be avoided but realized this might not now be possible.

U.N. sources said border monitors from Lloyds of London, who check the import into Iraq of humanitarian supplies, had been
asked to evacuate the country. But oil industry sources said monitors from a Dutch company who check Iraqi oil exports remained at their posts.

Iraq, laboring under international sanctions, sells about 1.8 million barrels per day under an ``oil-for-food'' deal with the United
Nations that enables it to buy food and medicines.

Industry sources said the sales continued as normal Wednesday, but oil prices rose sharply as tensions increased.

A U.S. official said Clinton, just back from a grueling Middle East trip and trying to rally support to avoid impeachment, had
discussed Iraq at a meeting with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Earlier, another U.S. official said Washington would have to study the U.N. report to decide ``appropriate next steps,'' adding: ``I don't want to foreshadow the use of force one way or the other.''

The United States has 201 aircraft and 22 warships in the Gulf region. The Defense Department said U.S. firepower included 15 heavy B-52 bombers armed with air-launched cruise missiles on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, and eight cruisers and destroyers capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the U.N. report showed Iraq had carried out a ``plan of deceit'' to prevent arms inspectors from conducting their work.

A spokesman for Blair said possible air strikes could not be organized at ``the click of a finger.'' The Muslim holy month of
Ramadan, due to start later this week, was a serious consideration in deciding the timing of any attack, he added.

But Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Saddam should expect no warning if Britain and the United States decided to launch air strikes.

Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov as saying Iraq should continue cooperating with arms inspections. But he said the Security Council should consider the performance of UNSCOM chief Richard Butler, of whom he was sharply critical.

In New York, a report by Butler issued late Tuesday said that Baghdad had imposed new restrictions on disarmament efforts.
This made it impossible for inspectors to determine that Iraq had eliminated its prohibited weapons, a key requirement for lifting
the stringent U.N. sanctions.

These were imposed in August 1990 after Iraq's troops invaded Kuwait, from which they were forced out by a broad U.S.-led
military alliance in the Gulf War.

U.N. Inspectors Ordered To Leave Baghdad - Spokesman 12/16/1998

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - The United Nations ordered its weapons inspectors to leave Baghdad
Wednesday, a U.N. spokesman said.

George Somerwill, a spokesman for the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq said in a statement read
to reporters: ``The staff of UNSCOM have been ordered to leave Baghdad today.'' He said that as a
``precautionary measure'' U.N. humanitarian staff were being asked to stay in Baghdad but that they
should be prepared to leave.

Speaking outside the U.N. headquarters on the outskirts of Baghdad, Somerwill said: ``No decision has
yet been taken about if or when U.N. humanitarian staff may leave Baghdad.'' However some staff who would have been
leaving for the holiday period will be leaving today as scheduled,'' he said, adding that staff working in the north of Iraq, outside
the Baghdad government's control, would stay in place and continue their work.

Earlier, three buses carrying UNSCOM (U.N. Special Commission) weapons inspectors left their Baghdad base for
Habbaniya airport, northwest of the city. Each bus carried 30 to 40 people.

The departure followed a report to the United Nations by the chief weapons inspector, Richard Butler, saying that Iraq had
failed to restore full co-operation over the inspections.

UN's Butler Issues Negative Report On Iraqi Actions 12/16/1998

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Chief U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler concluded Tuesday that Iraq
failed to restore full cooperation with his weapons experts, thereby raising the specter of U.S.-British air
strikes.

In a crucial report to the Security Council, Butler, the executive chairman of the U.N. Special
Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of Iraqi disarmament, said Baghdad had set back his work by issuing
new restrictions since inspectors resumed their duties in mid-November.

He said that Iraq's lack of full cooperation made it impossible for inspectors to determine that Baghdad had eliminated its
weapons of mass destruction, a key requirement for lifting stringent U.N. sanctions imposed in August 1990 after Iraq's troops
invaded Kuwait.

Butler's report could provide a basis for U.S.-British air strikes against Iraq, which both countries have said could be
conducted without any further diplomatic consultations or warnings.

In Washington, State Department spokesman James Foley said: ''This is a very serious matter. I can't speculate what decision
the president will make, but the United States has stated before that we believe we have all the authority we need under
relevant Security Council resolutions to act.''

``All options remain on the table,'' he said.

The report was requested by the Security Council, which has to determine whether it will conduct a comprehensive review of
its relations with Iraq that Baghdad hopes will eventually lead to a lifting of the sanctions.

But the negative 10-page report makes it probable that the United States and Britain will oppose conducting the review,
although Secretary-General Kofi Annan Monday urged the council to hold one anyway so it would ``know where it stands,
what has been achieved, what needs to be done.''

``As is evident from this report, Iraq did not provide the full cooperation it promised on Nov. 14, 1998,'' Butler said, referring
to the date Baghdad, under the threat of U.S.-British air strikes, said it would allow inspectors to resume work.

In fact, he said ``Iraq initiated new forms of restrictions upon the commission's work'' that might also hinder long-term
monitoring of Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction.

``Iraq's conduct ensured that no progress was able to be made in either the fields of disarmament or account for its prohibited
weapons programs,'' he said.

``Finally, in the light of this experience, that is, the absence of full cooperation by Iraq, it must regrettably be recorded again that
the commission is not able to conduct the substantive disarmament work mandated to it by the Security Council and thus, to
give the council the assurances it requires with respect to Iraq's prohibited weapons programs.''

Iraq on Aug. 5 curtailed UNSCOM inspections and then shut them down entirely on Oct. 31.

After the inspectors returned, Baghdad allowed a number of inspections without incident, but it halted several searches and
turned over only one of the 12 weapons-related documents Butler requested.

Butler said the one set of documents received, 64 pages concerning missiles, indicated they did not contain the information
sought by UNSCOM.

Iraq has maintained that the documents either do not exist, could not be found or were not relevant to UNSCOM's work.

Butler also said UNSCOM was prevented from interviewing graduate students on biological arms research, although this type
of research had been conducted at universities.

The most serious standoff was on Dec. 10 when UNSCOM was blocked from entering the ruling Baath party offices unless it
limited inspectors to four and said what it was seeking.

Iraq maintained that the site was sensitive and subject to special procedures issued by Butler's predecessor, Rolf Ekeus, now
Sweden's ambassador in Washington.

But Butler said he had discussed and revised the procedures in talks with Tareq Aziz, Iraq's deputy prime minister, a year ago.
He said Iraq introduced new requirements, including a formal letter stating what was being sought in the site.

UNSCOM also complained it was barred on Nov. 26 from a military base of the People's Mujahedeen, an Iranian opposition
group. And Friday, a Baghdad-based chemical monitoring team was prevented from inspecting a warehouse on grounds that it
was the Muslim sabbath.

Butler also said inspectors entered a fourth sensitive site that Iraq said had been the former headquarters of its Special Security
Organization. The building had been emptied of of its contents and Iraq would not say where they were moved.

And he said access was granted to a small team visiting a fifth site at the Military Industrialization Corporation. But he said ``this
site too had been prepared to avoid any disclosure of relevant materials and the team assessed Iraq had expected their arrival.''

Iraq Says UN Cannot Enter Ruling Party Site

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A senior official of Iraq's ruling Baath Party said U.N. arms inspectors would be turned back again if they tried to inspect a party site, but the United States appeared to soft-pedal on a military response.

Britain Thursday decried what it called Baghdad's uncooperative attitude toward U.N. inspectors looking for chemical, biological or missile weapon systems, which must be deactivated or destroyed for Iraq to be relieved of punitive sanctions.

Baghdad's refusal to let the inspectors examine a site belonging to the Baath party is the most serious incident since they returned to work last month after a showdown which almost triggered U.S. and British air strikes against Iraq.
Latif Nsayif Jassim, a member of the Baath leadership, said Thursday the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspectors would be turned back again if they showed up a second time at a two-story Baath building in west Baghdad.
``The answer would be the same. This is a party. Political parties are not included (in the inspection regime),'' he said.
Jassim was speaking on the steps of the building where UNSCOM called off a planned inspection Wednesday after Iraqi officials let just four of their 12-strong team enter.  

The United States described the latest confrontation with Baghdad as serious but soft-pedaled on the possibility of immediate military action against Iraq.   Defense Secretary William Cohen told reporters in Washington the United States would wait until after next week to assess the situation.  But when asked if Iraq might come under attack without warning, he quickly replied: ``The answer is yes.''

Iraq Rejects 5 U.S. Conditions

By LEON BARKHO Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Setting up what could be another confrontation with the United States, Iraq says it rejects the fiveconditions President Clinton laid out when he called off military strikes against Baghdad earlier this month.

Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf says his government is committed only to the U.N. resolution that links the removal of sanctions to a certification that Iraq is free of banned weapons. The sanctions were imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.

In a television interview broadcast late Thursday, Sahhaf said Iraq's promise to cooperate with inspectors does not mean they
have the right to a ``yes'' answer to every demand they make.

The head of inspections, Richard Butler, has demanded weapons documents from Baghdad. But Iraq has yet to hand them over, violating one of Clinton's conditions.

Iraq says it will turn down any request by Butler that is unrelated to disarmament or that jeopardizes the country's security.

``This wretched person (Butler) now thinks he has the backing of the United States of America in accordance with the points
raised by its president,'' Sahhaf said.

Iraq evaded the military strikes by allowing the resumption of inspections by the United Nations Special Commission after a
two-week hiatus.

Soon after UNSCOM resumed its work in Iraq, Butler asked for papers that he says are related to Iraq's biological and chemical weapons programs.

Iraq says most of the documents in question do not exist and those in its possession will not be handed over because they are part of its national security.

``Butler has resorted to a new ploy: that is the implementation of the points made by Clinton,'' Sahhaf said.

He said a deal his government signed with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in February compels Butler and his inspectors to respect ``all of Iraq's national security concerns'' in addition to matters related to its sovereignty.

The Feb. 23 pact opened presidential sites to the inspectors and had also averted U.S. and British airstrikes.

Clinton said Iraq must resolve all outstanding issues raised by the inspectors and give inspectors unfettered access to sites. He said Iraq must turn over all relevant documents; accept all U.N. resolutions regarding its weapons of mass destruction; and refrain from interfering with inspectors.

Clinton warns of overreaction on Iraq

Inspectors inside Iraq have been receiving co-operation As a row between Iraq and UN weapons inspectors threatens to escalate, US President Bill Clinton has said it is important not to overreact to Iraq's refusal to handover documents relating to its prohibited arms programme.

Speaking during a tour of east Asia, President Clinton said: "I think it is important that we not overreact here on the first day."

"I hope that Iraq would comply as it said it would ... just a few days ago."


Mr Clinton also said he supported the actions of the United Nations chief weapons inspector, Richard Butler, after Iraqi accusations of provocative conduct in his demands for information about its biological and chemical arsenal.

Mr Butler asked Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz to "break the habit of a life time" and tell the truth about Iraq's capabilities.

An Iraqi official has said that Unscom staff carried out their first surprise inspection Saturday since 5 August. 
"A team of ballistics experts made a surprise visit to a site where they verified monthly production figures," he said.

The inspectors were only allowed back into the country after President Saddam Hussein, faced with the threat of imminent air strikes, backed down in the most recent weapons inspection crisis.   The UK and US have said that any further obstruction of
the inspectors would result in military action without warning. 

The BBC correspondent in Baghdad, Richard Downes, says the threat is taken seriously by the Iraqis, but sudden use of force is unlikely at this point.  'Provocative not professional'  The argument centres on a document which President Bill Clinton says contains important information about chemical weapons.  Mr Butler has written to Iraq three times in three days asking for documents which would account for weapons of mass destruction.  He lists in some detail the papers that inspectors want
to see.  But Baghdad has responded by describing Mr Butler's request as "provocative rather than professional".

A senior Iraqi official, Riyadh al-Qaysi, said the disputed document was beyond the inspectors' mandate, although what he called "relevant portions" of the document could be viewed.   Baghdad also says some of the documents requested
do not exist, while clarifications have already been  provided for others in the past.

UK and US diplomats were waiting for a reaction from Mr Butler before acting. He was studying Iraq's response.  Co-operation despite complaint  Reports from Iraq suggest that despite the arguments over documentation, inspectors are otherwise receiving co-operation.

Baghdad has provided escorts for the Unscom teams - a service denied them in the past.   But surprise inspections - which have caused the greatest problems in the past - still lie ahead, although Mr Butler said these were unlikely to take place for at
least three weeks.   Targets for surprise visits could include the Ministry of Defence, the Republican Guard, secret police
headquarters and the private homes of some of the Iraqi leader's friends.

Iraq-Aziz Baghdad

``I have information that Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz will contact U.S.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT),'' an Iraqi information ministry
spokesman told reporters.

Warning that ``events on the ground may be running away from us,'' Annan made the appeal directly to Saddam in the letter to Baghdad after five hours of talks in the Security Council on Friday night.

The Security Council was to meet again on Saturday at 2030 GMT but members earlier said they expected to focus on the
deteriorating humanitarian situation in Iraq unless a positive response was received by then to Annan's latest call.

On Friday, Saddam raised the possibility of a diplomatic solution when he told Russian Ambassador Nikolai Kartuzov, ``Iraq is willing to react positively to any initiative which meets Iraq's legitimate demand (for sanctions to be lifted).''

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Convoys of buses hastily evacuated all U.N. weapons inspectors and
many humanitarian workers from Iraq amid drenching rainstorms Wednesday, raising fears that a
military strike by the United States and Britain was imminent.

Iraq showed no sign of backing down from its refusal to deal with the arms inspectors - the nub of
the crisis. The evacuation of more than 200 U.N. staffers was at first not reported by the Iraqi
media, and there was little evidence of Iraqis panicking or rushing to stock up on food.

Prakash Shah, the special envoy of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the withdrawal was ``in the background of
possible military action against Iraq.''

The United States and Britain have been threatening a military strike since Iraq announced Oct. 31 that it was halting the
activities of the U.N. Special Commission, known as UNSCOM, which is responsible for eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction.

With U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf region and the Pentagon beginning a major buildup of warplanes and troops, President
Clinton said that not enforcing the U.N.'s demands for arms inspections would be a costly mistake.

The U.N. Security Council held an emergency session on Iraq on Wednesday, and the secretary-general called on Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein to immediately resume cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors.

UNSCOM officials in Baghdad did not learn of plans to evacuate until chief weapons inspector Richard Butler called from
New York at 4 a.m. Baghdad time Wednesday and ordered the entire staff out, said UNSCOM spokeswoman Caroline
Cross.

Speaking from Bahrain where she was evacuated, Cross said 103 staffers of UNSCOM and the International Atomic Energy
Agency had pulled out. The UNSCOM field officer in Bahrain, Goran Wallen, said no one from the commission was left in
Iraq.

In addition, about 130 of the 450 humanitarian workers in Iraq withdrew Wednesday and were headed to the Jordanian capital
of Amman by road. There was confusion over the numbers, and earlier U.N. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity,
estimated 300 were leaving.

U.N. officials said about 40 more humanitarian workers would leave on Thursday, but apparently U.N. workers will remain in
the northern Kurdish areas.

The departing U.N. workers gave hugs to colleagues remaining behind - including Iraqi staff - but refused to talk to reporters.
Some U.N. staff staying behind were seen carrying their suitcases into U.N. headquarters, and it appeared they would both
work and sleep inside.

As the buses were leaving, U.N. workers hung mesh screens over the glass windows of the headquarters on the outskirts of
Baghdad - likely a precaution against flying glass in the event of a military strike.

Iraq says it will not resume cooperation with UNSCOM unless the Security Council moves to begin lifting trade sanctions
imposed to punish Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Shah told reporters he was in close contact with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.

The official Iraqi News Agency reported that Aziz had sent a letter to Annan complaining about the withdrawal of the weapons
inspectors, saying that UNSCOM was following U.S. orders and was using the United Nations as ``false cover.''

The news agency also reported that Saddam held two meetings Wednesday with his military commanders and defense officials,
including the chief of the air force and air defenses. It gave no details on the meetings.

Eric Falt, spokesman for U.N. humanitarian programs here, said only core U.N. officials would remain in Baghdad. He
declined to give figures.

Falt told reporters that the withdrawal was ``precautionary'' and ``solely with the safety of U.N. staff in mind.''

Most of the relief workers monitored the U.N.'s oil-for-food program, which allows Iraq to sell limited quantities of crude oil to
buy food and medicine for its 22 million people.

It is not clear how the withdrawal will affect the program. The pullout is likely to halt the work of other specialized agencies
such as the U.N. Children's Fund, the U.N. Development Program and the World Health Organization.

Among those staying in the country were Shah, the U.N. envoy, and Hans von Sponeck, the head of U.N. humanitarian
operations who took up his post in Iraq on Monday.

The crisis had been simmering since Aug. 5 when Iraq said it was halting the work of U.N. inspectors, who carried out
unannounced spot checks of suspected weapons sites. On Oct. 31, Iraq expanded its work ban to UNSCOM monitors, who
conduct long-term surveillance to ensure Iraq doesn't rearm.

Iraq is required to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction under U.N. resolutions that ended the 1991 Gulf War fought by
U.S.-led allies to force Iraq to end its occupation of Kuwait.

   WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States ordered 129 warplanes and more than 3,000 troops to the Gulf Wednesday and President Clinton said he was prepared to use force to end Iraq's defiance of
U.N. arms inspectors.

The order to send the additional forces, which will include 18 big B-52 and B-1 bombers along with 12
radar-avoiding F-117A ''stealth'' jets, was signed by Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Two additional Patriot missile batteries, capable of blasting Iraqi Scud missiles, will also be sent, Pentagon spokesman Ken
Bacon told reporters.

Clinton Makes Case for Iraq Attack

By ROBERT BURNS Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton ordered warships, planes and troops to the Persian Gulf
Wednesday in a major buildup as he laid out his case for a possible attack on Iraq.

Allowing President Saddam Hussein to flout the will of the United Nations by rejecting weapons inspections
would only embolden him to ``act recklessly,'' Clinton said in a Veterans Day speech at Arlington
National Cemetery.

``We continue to hope - indeed, pray - that Saddam will comply,'' the president said. ``But we must be prepared to act if he
does not.''

Meanwhile, U.S. ships headed toward the Gulf and Defense Secretary William Cohen ordered dozens of Air Force fighters
and bombers, additional Patriot air-defense missiles and 3,000 soldiers to the area, roughly doubling U.S. firepower.

``Nowhere is our vigilance more urgent than in the Persian Gulf, where Saddam Hussein's regime threatens the stability of one
of the most vital regions of the world,'' Clinton said in a speech that suggested he was still weighing his options.

Adding to the crisis atmosphere, the State Department withdrew as many as 200 nonessential personnel and their families from
embassies in Israel and Kuwait, citing the mounting tensions since Iraq on Oct. 31 stopped cooperating with weapons
inspectors of the a U.N. Special Commission. The department also suggested private U.S. citizens in Kuwait should leave.

The United Nations withdrew several hundred weapons inspectors and other U.N. staff from Baghdad in light of the possibility
of American airstrikes. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting as Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to
Saddam to immediately resume cooperation with inspectors. Annan said he was ``saddened and burdened'' by Iraq's defiance.

The Security Council passed a resolution this week condemning Iraq's noncooperation, but it did not include an explicit
go-ahead for military action. The Clinton administration contends that earlier resolutions on Iraq give it the right to use force,
although some U.N. members dispute that.

The timing of any possible U.S. action was unclear. Clinton spent the afternoon on the golf course, and his aides said he still
planned to travel to Malaysia on Saturday for a meeting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation nations, although that trip
probably would be scrapped if airstrikes were ordered. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright put off her departure for
Malaysia from Thursday to Friday, spokesman James Rubin said, to give her another day in Washington to deal with the Iraq
issue.

Clinton, in his speech, issued no explicit threat to attack Iraq but made clear he believed that failure to enforce the U.N.'s
demands for arms inspections would be a costly mistake.

``If the inspectors are not permitted to visit suspect sites or monitor compliance at known production facilities, they may as well
be in Baltimore, not Baghdad,'' Clinton said. ``That would open a window of opportunity for Iraq to rebuild its arsenal of
weapons and delivery systems in months - I say again, in months - not years.

``A failure to respond could embolden Saddam to act recklessly, signaling to him that he can with impunity develop these
weapons of mass destruction or threaten his neighbors,'' the president added.

The arguments Clinton made Wednesday were similar to the case he made during a lengthy speech last February when
Saddam was blocking U.N. access to certain weapons sites - a confrontation that ended with Annan going to Baghdad and
securing Saddam's promise to cooperate. In February, however, Clinton was more explicit both about the threat Saddam
posed - ``Some day, some way, I guarantee you he'll use the arsenal,'' he said then - and about a U.S. military response.

White House officials said Clinton has decided that he should publicly make the case that Iraq's behavior is intolerable, while
putting the onus on Saddam to forestall a possible military conflict.

``All of us agree that we prefer to resolve this crisis peacefully,'' Clinton said, in part because using the U.N. weapons
inspectors is the most effective way to ensure that Iraq is not rebuilding its arsenal.

``If Saddam Hussein is really serious about wanting sanctions lifted, there is an easy way to demonstrate that,'' the president
said. He can simply allow the U.N. inspectors to do their job of verifying that all banned weapons have been destroyed and
monitoring Iraq's future compliance, he said.

Iraq Says Will Not Work With U.N. Inspectors

By Hassan Hafidh

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said Saturday it was suspending all cooperation with U.N. arms inspectors
and monitors until the Security Council reviews the lifting of sanctions and purges its teams of ``American
spies and agents.''

The Iraqi decision came after a meeting headed by President Saddam Hussein of the Revolutionary
Command Council and the regional command of the ruling Baath Party.

``Until the Security Council examines sincerely and positively Iraq's right to lifting the unjust embargo, Iraq decides to suspend
all forms of dealing with the (U.N.) Special Commission and its chairman...and stop all its activities inside Iraq including the
monitoring activities as from today,'' an Iraqi statement said.

In August, Iraq suspended new spot inspections with the U.N. Special Commission, in charge of ridding Baghdad of its
nuclear, biological, chemical and ballistic weapons. That decision restricted inspectors to sites already visited.

In New York, the Security Council members were considering holding an emergency meeting Saturday on the Iraqi decision
which one envoy said had not been officially communicated to the United Nations.

UNSCOM's executive chairman, Australian Richard Butler, the main target of Iraqi verbal attacks, is currently in California but
would head back to New York shortly, his aides said.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan had been informed of the decision, his spokesman Fred Eckhard said, but would
probably wait until he was officially informed before commenting.

The United States said Iraq's suspension of cooperation with U.N. arms inspectors was a serious matter and will be discussed
by President Clinton's top national security aides.

The French Foreign Ministry roundly condemned Iraq's announcement Saturday and told Baghdad to think again.

Saturday's announcement, according to the statement, would also halt the crucial monitoring program the United Nations set up
to make sure Iraq does not reacquire any of the banned weapons.

But Iraq said the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. watchdog for nuclear weapons, could
continue its work. The IAEA recently said Iraq appeared free of atomic arms and related material, although some data on past
programs was still missing.

Iraq said it had taken the decision because of ``unjust'' sweeping trade sanctions imposed by the Security Council shortly after
Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait in August 1990. A clean bill of health from UNSCOM is a key requirement for easing or
lifting the embargoes.

Iraq's statement demanded the council ``take decisive measures'' to fire UNSCOM's executive chairman, Australian Richard
Butler, ``and restructure UNSCOM in such a way as to make it a neutral and professional international body.''

It said UNSCOM was a cover for international espionage.

Iraq has frequently accused Butler and his team of following the hardline policies of the United States and thereby prolonging
the sanctions, particularly the free flow of oil

In October, UNSCOM sent home two inspectors after Baghdad leveled spying charges against them for taking unauthorized
pictures. Butler admitted that the inspectors had violated UNSCOM rules, but dismissed the spying allegations.

Saturday's statement also accused Butler of ``playing a dirty game'' in coordination with the U.S. to distort results of deadly VX
nerve gas tests of samples of Iraqi missile warheads.

It said Butler should be punished for not admitting that Iraq had not filled VX in warheads as was proved by French and Swiss
laboratories.

Of the three reports issued by the U.N. last Monday, the U.S. study asserted Baghdad had VX shells ready for use in the war
while the French and Swiss reports were inconclusive. They said a second round of U.S. tests from other samples proved
negative.

Iraq had hoped that a fully fledged review of its relations with the United Nations, proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan as an inducement for Baghdad to rescind its August 5 decision, would lead to lifting sanctions, or at least close some of
the weapons files, particularly those on nuclear arms.

On Friday the U.N. Security Council agreed on some elements on the nature and scope of a comprehensive review in a letter
to Annan once Iraq cooperated with the arms inspectors again.

But the United States blocked an effort that would have included a pledge to lift sanctions on Iraqi exports, such as its main
commodity oil, once the council determined Iraq had complied with all weapons demands.

Weighing The  US Bid To Oust President Saddam

Bill earmarking $97 million to aid Iraqi opposition groups raises legal questions.

WASHINGTON

Throughout their long rivalry, the United States and the Soviet Union routinely fought through proxies, pumping arms and
money into local conflicts around the world while keeping their own troops out of harm's way.

In a controversial throwback to those days, Congress has sent President Clinton a bill to underwrite the ouster of Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein. It gives Mr. Clinton, who is expected to sign the measure, 90 days to designate Iraqi
opposition groups that could garner up to $97 million for arms, training, and financing.

Aside from deep doubts about the plan's viability, the idea of Washington openly sponsoring the armed ouster of a head of
state raises profound moral and legal questions that were largely ignored during four decades of East-West confrontation.

During the cold war, aiding rebels fighting despotic regimes was widely accepted as a legitimate defense against Soviet
expansionism and communism. Furthermore, assistance to such groups was usually covert, giving the US some
deniability. But considerations that once commanded scant attention have gained enormous importance today, especially
with the world now closely scrutinizing every word and action of its sole superpower.

"The bottom line is that this [the anti-Saddam bill] creates a dilemma for US policy," says Sean Kay, a professor of
international relations at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. "During the cold war, these things happened out of strategic
necessity. In the post-cold war, one of the Clinton administration's thrusts has been to promote the rule of law."

Ritter: Iraq has 'technologically complete' nuclear weapons


TEL AVIV (AFP) — Iraq is hiding three “technologically complete”
nuclear bombs which lack only the fissile material to make them operational, according to a former U.N. arms inspector quoted
Wednesday in the Haaretz newspaper.  Haaretz said Scott Ritter, who quit the U.N. inspection team in Iraq last month charging that it was no longer carrying out its task aggressively enough, made the disclosure at a recent closed-door meeting of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Ritter was quoted as saying the U.N. inspections committee knew where the three nuclear devices were being hidden and had information on how they were concealed and which officers were guarding them, but had not received an order to inspect the site.

He described the bombs as “technologically complete” and needing only the fissile nuclear material to become operational. Haaretz made no mention of whether Ritter believes Iraq has obtained any such nuclear material. 

Ritter, a U.S. citizen, charged that the U.N. Security Council, under pressure from the U.S. administration, had blocked the work of the weapons inspectors just as they were “on the doorstep” of uncovering Iraq's hidden weapons of mass destruction.  

He said the United States wanted to avoid new confrontations with the government of President Saddam Hussein and had intervened to keep the U.N. teams from carrying out surprise inspections.

Ritter claimed the inspectors had uncovered evidence that Iraq could still have a large number of chemical bombs, between five and 12 Al Husseini ballistic missiles and parts for another 25 launchers.

Aziz: Butler's report baseless
Iraq said on Aug. 5 it would no longer cooperate with U.N. inspection teams, thus preventing them from carrying out most of their duties. Baghdad, however, said the U.N. experts could monitor previously declared sites but could not conduct intrusive inspections.

Aziz's letter reached members as they discussed a U.S.-British resolution to suspend regular 60-day reviews of sanctions until Iraq cooperates with the inspectors. Without the reviews, there is no possibility of easing the embargoes, although chances are slim this would occur in the near future anyway. 

A revised draft circulating Tuesday, however, said no such comprehensive review would occur until after Iraq rescinds its Aug. 5 decision to freeze cooperation with U.N. inspectors. A comprehensive review could result in the council acknowledging some progress in the United Nations' 8-year-old effort to disarm Iraq. 

U.N. arms experts must certify that Iraq has destroyed its long-range missiles and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons before the council will lift sanctions, imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, sparking the Gulf war. 

Without the regular 60-day reviews, Iraq has no means to have sanctions lifted.

Annan in February brokered an accord that allowed inspectors to visit presidential palaces which Iraq had declared off limits. 

Because Iraq has repudiated Annan's accord, “I believe that sometime soon he should actively consider personal diplomacy: going back to Baghdad and saying `you violated my agreement and this is intolerable',” Richardson said.   “His prestige is on the line, too,” Richardson said.

Iraq says resigning U.N. inspector a Mossad agent.. !

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi newspapers on Saturday lashed out at resigning American U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, accusing him of having links with Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, and the U.S. Central intelligence Agency.

``It seems that Ritter's mates in the Mossad have burdened him with anti-Iraq duties, thus prompting him to resign for being restless and sleepless of these duties,'' the daily newspaper Al-Jomhuriya said.  ``By submitting his resignation, Ritter and his backers wanted to put a red seal on his intelligence past which proved recently that, thanks to his post, he was transferring information on Iraq to the Mossad,'' the paper added.

Ritter, who was involved repeatedly in stand-offs with Iraq, resigned on Wednesday and leveled an angry blast at the U.N. Security Council and the U.N. secretary-general for not standing up to Baghdad.  In a letter to chief weapons inspector Richard Butler, he said the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of disarming Iraq, ``hobbled as it is by unfettered Iraqi obstruction and non- existent Security Council enforcement of its own resolutions,'' was not the organization he
joined almost seven years ago.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Iraq's Ministry of Culture and Information issued a statement accusing Ritter of CIA and Mossad links.   ``The resignation of the American-Zionist intelligence officer Scott Ritter from the (U.N.) Special
Commission is because his connection with the Zionist Mossad was uncovered,'' the spokesman said in the statement, copies of which were distributed to reporters.

``Scott Ritter is an intelligence officer at the American Army and had taken part in the American-imperialist aggression against Iraq in 1991,'' he added.   The influential Iraqi newspaper Babel said on Saturday that Ritter, by his letter, wanted to
blackmail the United Nations.  ``Through submitting a resignation, Ritter started blackmailing the international organization by
threatening its secretary-general and accusing the Security Council for misdealing with Iraq,'' Babel
said.  ``The role of this agent is prolonging the sanctions on Iraq upon request of the Mossad and the
CIA,'' Babel added. 

Ritter said on Thursday that he resigned to sound a ``wake-up call'' that Iraq must be compelled to
give up its weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq decided earlier this month to suspend cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors until UNSCOM was restructured and its headquarters were moved from New York to Geneva or Vienna and U.N. sanctions were removed.

Iraq says that all its weapons of mass destruction were accounted for and the Security Council should lift the trade embargo on Iraq.

A declaration by the U.N. weapons inspectors that Iraq is complying with the disarmament regime is necessary before sanctions, including a ban on the unrestricted sale of oil, can be lifted. 

BBC: President  Saddam: Iraq sanctions "will crumble"

The Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, has predicted that this year will see sanctions against his country virtually crumble away. peaking on the anniversary of the 1968 revolution which brought his Ba'ath party to power, he said resistance, firmness and commitment by the Iraqi people would lead to an early end to the measures rather than their being lifted by the United Nations Security Council.  The UN imposed sanctions on Baghdad after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Defiant speech
"On previous occasions we have said the blockade will
not be lifted by a unanimous UN Security Council
resolution," he said.

"Rather, it will erode the more Iraqis remain firm in their
stance, relying on God."

The BBC's Middle East correspondent described
Saddam Hussein as being back to his old defiant self.

Thousands of Iraqi people took to Baghdad's Street in  protest against Sanctions


But at the same time he warned that the Iraqi leadership would meet at an unspecified date to follow up on a decision to take action if the United Nations fails to cancel the sanctions regime.  "The appropriate measures will be adopted," he said.    It is not clear what measures he has in mind but the Iraqi leadership two months ago warned of "serious consequences" if the embargo were not lifted.

Weapons allegations  That can only happen if the United Nations weapons inspectors certify Iraqi compliance with all the UN requirements for the elimination of the country's weapons of mass destruction.  That is not an immediate prospect. Only last month the UN Special Commission on Iraq accused it of putting a lethal VX nerve gas into warheads though Iraq has denied the allegations.  Sanctions remain in place and despite Saddam Hussein's assertion that they are crumbling, they are still hurting. There is some leakage across the borders with neighbouring Iran, Turkey and Syria but not on a significant scale. This week Iraq signed an agreement with Syria to re-open a long disused pipeline for oil exports but American officials insist that would be a breach of sanctions.   Iraq would have to seek permission from the UN and Syria has made it clear it will not defy the international embargo.  

The Ba'ath party came to power on July 17, 1968 when General Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr took over as president in a bloodless coup.  Saddam Hussein replaced General Bakr on July 16,1979.