February 13, 2003, 8:38 AM ESTIraqi: Missiles Are Not a Violation
By TOM RACHMAN
Associated Press Writer
ROME -- Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz insisted Thursday that a missile that Russian and U.S. officials contend exceeds U.N.-imposed limits was not a serious or dangerous violation.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the report about the Iraqi missile could constitute a "serious breach" of a U.N. Security Council resolution on disarmament.
Aziz, arriving in Rome for three days of meetings, including talks with Pope John Paul II, told reporters at the airport that "there is no serious violation" concerning the missiles.
"It should not be exaggerated. We are still within the limits that have been decided by the U.N.," Aziz said, adding, "We are cooperating and doing our best."
"The Iraqi missiles are very short-range and they don't have a guidance system," he said.
Aziz said that missiles without the weight of a guidance system can go up to 10 miles beyond its real range. "And that is not very dangerous."
International missile experts said they found that the al-Samoud missile's range exceeds the 93 miles allowed under U.N. resolutions, the U.S. and Russian officials said Wednesday.
In Rome, Aziz will meet with opposition politicians who have condemned conservative Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's support for the U.S. position on Iraq. He may also meet Berlusconi's foreign minister.
Most significant was Aziz's meeting with the pontiff Friday -- the day U.N. weapons inspectors are to issue what could be a decisive report to the Security Council on Iraq's cooperation.
The pope has urged both sides to do everything to avoid war, arguing that the United States should not launch a "preventative" war, and that Iraqi authorities must cooperate thoroughly with U.N. weapons inspectors.
The Vatican has strongly opposed a new Iraq conflict, with the pontiff saying such a war would be a "defeat for humanity." The pope was also a vocal opponent of the 1991 Gulf War, and has frequently spoken out in opposition to U.N. economic sanctions imposed on Baghdad after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
The pope sent peace envoy Cardinal Roger Etchegaray this week to Baghdad, where he held talks Wednesday with top Iraqi officials, including Aziz. Asked if it was still possible to avoid war, Etchegaray said, "Until the end, you must always hope, always. We're in the hands of God."
Italy's Berlusconi has been a strong supporter of President Bush's policies. In an interview in Thursday's Corriere della Sera, a Milan daily, Aziz expressed dismay over the Italian premier's backing of Bush, whom Aziz branded "the new Hitler."
"What have we done to the Italians?" Aziz said.
Aziz, who is Christian, also travels to Assisi on Saturday for peace prayers with Franciscan monks.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
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