Blix hails 'real disarmament' in Iraq move By Niko Price
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — Iraq agreed yesterday to begin destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles within 24 hours, a decision that chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, who had set today as a deadline, called "a very significant piece of real disarmament." The destruction of the finned white rockets is seen as a key test of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's resolve to disarm and avert a U.S.-led war.
The 11th-hour concession sparked a fresh round of fierce public discord along now-familiar fault lines, with those in favor of the resolution unswayed and those who support further U.N. weapons inspections insisting that it validates their position.
At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer dismissed the idea that the Iraqi move reflected progress. "This is the deception the president predicted," Fleischer said. "We do expect that they will destroy at least some of their missiles, but President Bush won't settle for anything less than full disarmament. The Iraqi regime is a deception wrapped in a lie."
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld echoed those sentiments. "This is exactly what's been going on for years," he said. "They refuse to cooperate; don't cooperate; drag it out; wait till someone finally nails them with one little piece of the whole puzzle and refuse to do anything about it; and then finally, when they see the pressure building, say, 'Well, maybe we'll do some of that.' So I don't see any change in the pattern at all."
Working out a schedule Iraqi sources said destruction of the missiles would start today, after the Iraqis meet with U.N. inspectors in Baghdad this morning to work out a schedule. "We have accepted destruction of those missiles, although they do not constitute a serious violation of the U.N. resolutions, but we want to remove any pretext that there may be to wage aggression against Iraq," said Tariq Aziz, Iraq's deputy prime minister.
Blix ordered Iraq to begin destroying the missiles by today after examining 40 test flights. In 13 of them, the missile flew farther than the 93-mile limit set by U.N. resolutions after the 1991 Gulf War. In 27 test flights, the missile flew below the limit. The 93-mile limit is roughly the distance between the Iraqi border and likely targets in neighboring nations.
"It is a very significant piece of real disarmament," Blix said yesterday. "They say they accepted in principle, and it is to start" today, he added. "So maybe (tonight) or Sunday we will have more to say."
Iraq is thought to have between 100 and 120 of the missiles, and U.N. inspectors say it has continued to produce and test them this week. Although still in development and relatively unreliable, inspectors say some of the missiles have been deployed to military units. U.S. analysts worry that if Iraq still is hiding chemical and biological weapons, it could load them on the Al Samoud 2 to target U.S. forces deployed in the Persian Gulf region, now 225,000 strong.
Iraq says it has destroyed all chemical and biological weapons unilaterally, and has begun taking inspectors to disposal sites to prove it. In a report written before Iraq agreed to eliminate the rockets, Blix told the Security Council yesterday that Saddam must provide much more evidence about his chemical, biological and missile programs.
"The Iraqis are at the present time very active," Blix said. "As reality changes, my report changes. Every report I submit is a snapshot of the situation when we write the report." The report stressed that inspectors still need documents, physical evidence or testimony by individuals who took part in Iraq's weapons programs to answer unresolved issues.
Blix is expected to ask Iraq to declare its inventory of underground facilities, where U.S. officials repeatedly have said missiles and laboratories for producing biological and chemical weapons are located. He also will ask Iraq to come up with a system by which inspectors, using roadblocks and helicopters, could monitor highways in search of mobile weapons laboratories the United States has alleged it has.
Reaction from Europe European governments opposed to war said Iraq's decision on the missiles reinforced their opinion that weapons inspections were weakening Saddam's military capabilities. "It is an important step in the process of the peaceful disarmament of Iraq," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said. "It confirms that inspectors are getting results."
In New York, a deeply divided U.N. Security Council was considering a U.S.-backed resolution that would authorize war, as well as a French-led proposal to continue with inspections. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said yesterday that Russia would veto the U.S.-backed resolution if needed to preserve "international stability." The threat of a veto, said Duke University national-security policy expert Ted Treibel, suggests Russia will not back down, at least not now — though it may ultimately sign on to the resolution or abstain from voting. Treibel said Russia and China would be reluctant to sour their relations with the United States and forfeit billions of dollars in trade.
"I don't think Russia is going to veto and I don't think China is going to veto," Treibel said. "But this ratchets up the pressure to take it to the very brink."
That resolution may not be voted on for two weeks, but a day of diplomatic backsliding led discouraged U.S. officials to privately acknowledge that the U.N. vote — the United States is hoping for nine supportive votes and no vetoes in the Security Council — could now go either way. "It's still a definite possible, but by no means definite," said a senior administration official who requested anonymity.
Information from The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Newsday is included in this report. |
