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Inspectors
give high grades on Iraqi cooperation,
stress remaining issues
Chief
United Nations weapons inspectors on
Monday gave a better-than-expected
assessment of Iraq's cooperation, but
called for more efforts on the Iraqi side
to resolve remaining unanswered questions
Hans
Blix, head of the UN Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC),
and Mohammed ElBaradei, director-general
of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), briefed the 15-nation Security
Council on the progress of inspections
which resumed on Nov. 27 after a four-year
hiatus
As
widely predicted, the reports, which have
been seen as vital for future UN actions
on Iraq, contained few surprises. In his
15-page report to the Security Council,
Blix, who is in charge of hunting for
banned chemical and biological arms and
ballistic missiles, criticized Iraq for
appearing "not to have come to a
genuine acceptance" of disarmament.
But he commended Iraq for taking "a
measure of mutual confidence from the very
beginning in running the operation of
inspection.
"Iraq
has on the whole cooperated rather well so
far with UNMOVIC in this field," he
said. "The most important point to
make is that access has been provided to
all sites we have wanted to inspect and
with one exception it has been
prompt." He also complimented Iraq on
granting help to build up the
infrastructure of UNMOVIC's office in
Baghdad and Mosul. "The environment
has been workable," he noted
Nevertheless,
the chief weapons inspector quickly
expressed his dissatisfaction with Iraq's
blocking of using U-2 reconnaissance
planes and with that country's
demonstrations targeting inspections. Blix
said Iraq has refused to guarantee the
safety of U-2 planes, loaned by
Washington, unless a number of conditions
are fulfilled
Stressing
these conditions went beyond UN resolution
1441, Blix urged Iraq to change its
attitude toward U-2 surveillance flights
Blix
also complained about "some recent
disturbing incidents and harassment,"
like demonstrations having taken place in
front of the UNMOVIC offices and at the
inspection sites. Accusing the Iraqi
authorities of being behind the protests,
Blix said: "Demonstrations and
outbursts of this kind are unlikely to
occur in Iraq without initiative or
encouragement from the authorities.
Meanwhile,
Blix called on Baghdad to forge
substantive cooperation with inspectors,
who returned to the Gulf state on Nov.27
after a four-year absence
ElBaradei
told the Security Council that his
inspectors found no evidence that Iraq has
revived the nuclear weapons program it had
eliminated in the 1990s, and more time was
needed for a conclusive assessment.
"With
our verification system now in place,
barring exceptional circumstances, and
provided there is sustained proactive
cooperation by Iraq, we should be able
within the next few months to provide
credible assurance that Iraq has no
nuclear weapons program," he said.
"These few months would be a valuable
investment in peace because they could
help us avoid a war," he added
Over
the first two months of inspection, the
IAEA, which is responsible for
investigating Iraq's nuclear program, has
carried out a total of 139 inspections at
some 106 locations, the bulk of which have
taken place at state-run or private
industrial facilities, research centers
and universities, ElBaradei reported
"Those
inspections have focused primarily on
Iraq's attempts to procure high-strength
aluminum tubes, and the question of
whether these tubes could be used for the
manufacture of nuclear centrifuges,"
ElBaradei said.
Although
the Iraqi side has been cooperative
throughout the inspections process,
ElBaradei stressed it was important for
Baghdad to shift to more "pro-active
support" by voluntarily
"providing documentation, people and
other evidence that will assist in filling
in the remaining gaps in our
information.
The
chief inspector also urged Baghdad to make
every effort to be fully transparent, with
a demonstrated willingness to resolve
issues rather than requiring pressure to
do so
"The
international community will not be
satisfied when questions remain open with
regard to Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction; the world is asking for a
high level of assurance that Iraq is
completely free from all such weapons, and
is already impatient to receive it,"
he said.
UN
Inspectors' reports draw mixed reactionS
The
long-awaited report by two UN chief
inspectors Monday on Iraq's compliance
with relevant Security Council resolutions
met with mixed reactions from member
states of the United Nations
The
majority of countries seemed to share the
view that the inspectors should be given
more time to go on with their work and it
is still premature to come to the
conclusion that Iraq still has weapons of
mass destruction, though there is no evidence so far to rule out such a
possibility
Sergey
Lavrov, Russian ambassador to the UN,
noted that the chief inspectors' report
showed no evidence that Iraq has resumed
programs of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
"...all
these news finds or physical documents
will not change the basic conclusion that
the inspectors don't have any evidence
that Iraq has resumed WMD programs nor can
they assert all these programs have been
stopped," he said.
He
said Iraq's 10-point statement with
inspectors showed its readiness to provide
active cooperation, which should be
certainly encouraged.
German
ambassador Gunter Pleuger confirmed that
the weapons inspectors would give another
update on Feb. 14. He said the two chief
inspectors-Hans Blix and Mohammed
ElBaradei agreed that it would be
"useful" to have one more update
before a scheduled briefing on March 27
He
reiterated it is the council's common goal
to fully disarm Iraq and do it peacefully.
On
the other hand, the United States and
Britain, the two advocates for military
actions against Iraq dismissed the report
as achieving little to prove Iraq has
complied with UN resolutions and warned
against inaction against Baghdad.
US
ambassador John Negroponte said he heard
nothing in the report offering hope that
Iraq will disarm voluntarily and removing
the need for the United States to take
military action.
He
argued that the issue was no longer the
inspection process, and urged the
15-nation council to "face its
responsibility" in the days ahead to
decide on the next steps to disarm Iraq.
"The
purpose of this exercise is not
inspections but the disarmament of Iraq.
Our quarrel is with Iraq's behavior in
this process," he said.
Britain's
UN ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said the
reports by the two chief inspectors had
"left a catalogue of unresolved
questions."
But he
said Britain shared with Germany the view
that a new report is needed by weapons
inspectors to the council on Feb. 14 and
Britain would like to hear from the new
report more details on the inspection
work. This seemed at odds with the
American stance that time has run out for
Iraq.
British
Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to
meet with US President George W. Bush at
Camp David on Jan. 31, with the Iraqi
issue presumably high on the agenda.
Iraqi
ambassador to the UN Mohammed al-Douri
said his country has done everything it
could to aid in the search for banned arms
programs, and that the war planned by the
United States and Britain against Iraq was
motivated by oil rather than WMD.
"We
opened all doors to Mr. Blix and his team.
If there is something, he will find
it," he told reporters.
Serbian
ex-president denies war crimes in Hague
Former
Serbian President Milan Milutinovic
pleaded not guilty to crimes against
humanity in his first appearance Monday at
the international war crimes tribunal in
The Hague.
Milutinovic
was indicted along with former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic three years
ago on charges of war crimes allegedly
committed during the conflict in Kosovo.
Prosecutors
say Milutinovic had formal control of Serb
forces who killed hundreds of ethnic
Albanians in the province and expelled
tens of thousands from their homes.
Milutinovic,
aged 60, argued that as Serbian president,
he had little real power. He denied four
counts of crimes
against humanity -- including murder,
deportation and persecutions -- and one
charge of war crimes.
Last
week Milutinovic surrendered voluntarily
to the tribunal after his term of office
expired and he lost immunity from
prosecution.
On the
same day, Milosevic returned to court to
face charges including genocide after a
two-week break to get over a bout of flu.
Milosevic's
ill health has led to nearly two months of
postponements since his trial began in
February
of last year.
Palestinian
groups continue discussions on final
declaration
A
total of 12 Palestinian factions were
still discussing the wording of a final
declaration to be made at the end of their
talks in Cairo, Egypt, a Palestinian
source said.
The
groups still differ on putting an end to
attacks on the Israelis, with the
Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)
and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) insisting
on an Israeli halt to violence and
withdrawal from the Palestinian lands.
"Israel
should stop its aggression against the
Palestinians and withdraw from the
Palestinian lands, at the same time we
will stop attacks on the Israelis," a
Hamas delegate said.
Apart
from Hamas and Jihad, the Palestinian
mainstream Fatah movement, the Democratic
Front for the Liberation of Palestine and
the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine were represented at the talks,
which began on Friday.
The
participants have over the past days
discussed an Egyptian proposal on freezing
Palestinian attacks on the Israelis for
one year to help restart peace talks
between the two sides.
Hamas
and Jihad are opposed to the Mideast peace
process and efforts to revive it. Their
armed wings have carried out deadly
attacks on Israel since the Palestinians
and Israel signed the Oslo Accord in 1993.
US
Democratic leaders challenge Bush on
national security, economy
US
Democratic leaders faulted President
George W. Bush for his handling of the
economy and national security on Monday,
one day before Bush is to deliver hastate
of the Union address before a joint
session of Congress.
"At
a time when we have only just begun to
fight the war on terror, the American
people deserve to hear why we should put
hundreds of thousands of American troops
at risk, spend perhaps hundreds of
billions of dollars, risk our alliances,
and inflame our adversaries to attack
Iraq," Senate Minority Leader Tom
Daschle said in a speech before the
National Press Club.
Daschle
urged Bush to show the world what proof he
has that Iraq has mass destruction weapons
and stop squandering the goodwill of US
allies on the issue.
Both
Iraq and the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea pose threats to America's
security, but only Pyongyang
"presents an immediate nuclear
threat" and Bush has set the wrong
priorities for protecting the United
States, he said.
"The
state of our union today is anxious,"
Daschle said. "The triple threat of
war, terrorism and recession are
combining to make Americans unsure about
their future and unclear about the course
our nation is taking."
In
a joint appearance, Nancy Pelosi, the
House minority leader, said she hoped Bush
would present "a message of hope and
relevance" in Tuesday's address,
adding that millions of Americans want
jobs.
While
Daschle focused largely on foreign policy,
Pelosi's criticism was directed largely at
domestic issues, including the president's
proposed elimination of the tax on
corporate dividend and his record on the
environment.
"Security
also means economic security," she
said. "We must create jobs now."
The California congresswoman said that
Bush's proposed 10-year,roughly
674-billion-dollar economic plan will
benefit only the wealthiest Americans.
Bush
put the final touches on his State of the
Union address Monday, hoping to rally the
country for a possible war against Iraq
and assure the American people that his
administration can revitalize the US
economy.
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