Iraq OKs use of
surveillance plane by inspectors
Iraq
sent a letter to UN weapons inspectors Monday
approving the use of three types of
surveillance planes and pledged to
"continue the process" of
legislation work banning the production of
weapons of mass destruction.
Iraqi
Presidential Advisor Amar Al-Saadi said in the
single-page letter that Iraq has agreed to the
use of U-2, Mirage and Anatanov, surveillance
planes made by the United States, France and
Russia respectively.
According to a
copy of the letter, Iraq also mentioned its
willingness to "continue the
process" of legislation work banning the
production of weapons of mass destruction.
Hans Blix, head
of UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection
Commission, pressed during his latest talks
with senior Iraqi officials for greater
cooperation on technical matters as well as on
issues of substance.
Blix said he
would like to have a positive answer to the
use of surveillance planes before his
scheduled briefing to the UN Security Council
on Friday. Iraq had blocked the use of such
planes, saying it can not guarantee the safety
of those planes in the no-fly zone.
Blix will
arrive in New York on Monday evening after a
two-day visit to Baghdad, according to a UN
spokesman.
Bush urges
UN to make decisions on Iraq quickly
US
President George W. Bush on Sunday urged the
United Nations Security Council to make
decisions on Iraq quickly, vowing that the
United States will lead a coalition to disarm
Iraq if Baghdad fails to disarm.
"The
United Nations gets to decide shortly whether
or not it is going to be relevant in terms of
keeping the peace, whether or not its words
mean anything," Bush told a Republican
rally held in White Sulphur Springs, West
Virginia.
"But one
thing is certain -- for the sake of peace and
the sake of security, the United States and
our friends and allies, we will disarm (Iraqi
President) Saddam Hussein if he will not
disarm himself," Bush said.
The US
president said it is important for Americans
to realize that "Saddam Hussein has
fooled the world for 12 years."
"He
(Saddam) wants the world to think that hide
and seek is a game we should play, it's
over," Bush stressed, echoing a similar
message he delivered a few days ago.
After a private
meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell
at the White House last Thursday, Bush had
warned Iraq that "the game is over."
US rejects
Franco-German plan on Iraq
US
Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday
rejected a plan jointly-proposed by France and
Germany on how to disarm Iraq through
nonmilitary means.
"The issue
is not more inspectors. ... The issue is
compliance on the part of (Iraqi President)
Saddam Hussein," Powell said on ABC's
Meet the Press" program.
"This idea
of more inspectors, or a no-fly zone, or
whatever else may be in this proposal that is
being developed, is a diversion not a
solution," said Powell, who stressed that
he had not seen the Franco-German plan.
"It missed
the point," Powell said on "Fox News
Sunday" program.
He stressed
that what is needed is not more inspectors but
more cooperation from the Iraqi government on
disarmament.
"If they
(Iraqis) were doing what they were supposed to
be doing, the inspectors that are there would
be more than enough," the secretary said.
Although the
Franco-German proposal on Iraq is yet made
public, German Defense Minister Peter Struck
said Sunday that France and Germany hoped that
the plan "will be favorably received by
the UN Security Council on February 14."
The timing
coincides with UN inspectors' second report
about Iraq's compliance with UN resolution
1441.
The
Franco-German plan reportedly includes
initiatives such as sending UN peacekeeping
forces into Iraq, increasing the number of UN
weapons inspectors, and turning the entire
Iraq into a no-fly zone.
France,
Belgium break NATO's silence procedure on Iraq
issue
France
and Belgium broke the "silence
procedure" of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) on provision of support
the United States and Turkey in case of Iraq
war, a NATO official said here on Monday.
The official,
who declined to be named, said that there has
not yet any stance from Germany, one of the
three staunchest opponents within the military
bloc of making immediate military initiatives
when diplomatic means of resolving the Iraq
crisis have not been exhausted.
"So far
France and Belgium broke the silence. The
council (NATO' s decision-making North
Atlantic Council) is having an emergency
meeting at 10:30 a.m. (0930 GMT)," she
said.
On Jan. 15, the
United States officially requested NATO for
support in case of Iraq war. But NATO has not
reached any consensus on the issue since then
because of fierce opposition from France,
Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.
NATO's
Secretary-General George Robertson invoked the
"silence procedure" last Thursday,
setting 0900 GMT Monday as the deadline. If no
member state breaks the silence, NATO would
regard it as a consensus on the issue and
would immediately set out making military
plans in this respect.
The move of
France and Belgium was widely regarded as a
clear indication of the deepening divide among
NATO member states on the Iraq issue.
The
"silence procedure" is one of the
often-used prerogatives of the
secretary-general, who will decide on the
length of the silence based on the nature of
the issue under discussion.
German,
Russian leaders call for peaceful solution to
Iraqi issue
German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and visiting
Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted
Sunday that the Iraqi issue be solved by
peaceful means." At the moment we see no
basis for the use of force," Putin said
after talks with Schroeder.
He added that
"unilateral use of force" as
threatened by Washington would lead to an
escalation of violence in the region and cause
innocent civilians to suffer.
Schroeder said
latest reports from Baghdad that Iraq is
willing to be more cooperative with UN weapons
inspectors are encouraging and he hoped that a
peaceful settlement of the Iraqi issue could
be reached.
Putin did not
mention if he had discussed with Schroeder on
a reported Franco-German proposal to disarm
Iraq with UN peace-keeping force, but said
Russia's position is almost identical with
that of Germany and France.
Putin, who
arrived here on Sunday morning, is due in
Paris on Monday for talks with French
President Jacques Chirac on Iraq.
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