Iraqi Parliament Condemns U.N. Plan
By SAMEER N. YACOUB
.c The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's parliament condemned a tough, new U.N. resolution as full of lies and ill intentions during a special session Monday in which a senior lawmaker urged rejection of the Security Council directive - a prospect that could prompt an attack by the United States and Britain.
President Saddam Hussein has used the rubber-stamp parliament as cover for difficult decisions in the past, and the tough language does not necessarily mean parliament will reject the proposal.
After opening speeches, during which lawmakers applauded every time Saddam's name was mentioned, members went into closed session for two hours, before adjourning until Tuesday. The opening of the emergency meeting was broadcast live on satellite television.
Saddam ordered parliament to recommend a formal Iraqi response. Iraq has until Friday to accept or reject the resolution, approved unanimously last week by the U.N. Security Council in a fresh attempt to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction or prove that it has none.
Salim al-Koubaisi, head of parliament's foreign relations committee, recommended the legislature follow the ``wise Iraqi leadership,'' but advised lawmakers to reject the resolution.
``The committee advises ... the rejection of Security Council Resolution 1441,'' al-Koubaisi told lawmakers.
Parliament's advice on the new U.N. resolution, which demands Iraq cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors or face ``serious consequences,'' will be go to the Revolutionary Command Council, Iraq's major executive body headed by Saddam.
Should parliament recommend acceptance, as expected, it would allow Saddam to claim the decision was the will of the Iraqi people. He could then more easily retreat from previous objections to any new resolution governing weapons inspections.
President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, dismissed the Parliament's response Monday and rejected the legitimacy of the parliament's debate on the resolution.
``One has to be a bit skeptical of the independence of the Iraqi parliament from Saddam Hussein,'' she said. ``I don't think anyone believes this is anything but an absolute dictatorship and this decision is up to Saddam Hussein.''
Iraq has no right to accept or reject the resolution, she said. ``They are obligated to accept, but the U.N. thought it best to ask for return-receipt requested,'' Rice said.
Senior Bush administration officials said the president has approved tentative Pentagon plans for invading Iraq should a new U.N. arms inspection effort fail. The strategy calls for a land, sea and air force of 200,000 to 250,000 troops, officials said.
``Should military action become necessary for our own security, I will commit the full force and might of the United States military and we will prevail,'' Bush said Monday in a White House speech.
On convening the session, Parliament speaker Saadoun Hamadi denounced the resolution as filled with ``ill intentions'', ``falsehood'', ``lies'' and ``dishonesty.''
He told the parliament it ``does not have the minimum of fairness, objectivity and balance,'' and violates international law.
``The ill intentions in this resolution are flagrant and loud in ignoring all the work that has been achieved in past years,'' Hamadi said.
The U.N. resolution gives inspectors unrestricted access to any suspected weapons site and the right to interview Iraqi scientists outside the country and without Iraqi officials present - both issues that could become points of dispute.
Iraq has insisted on respect for its sovereignty, an argument it has used in the past to restrict access to Saddam's palaces.
Saeed Mousawi, a senior official at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, noted the resolution changed the rules and said it was based on a hypothetical, unsubstantiated claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
``This decision creates a wide ground for upcoming crises, and not for a solution,'' he told the parliament.
If Saddam fails to follow through, U.S. officials have said a Pentagon plan calls for more than 200,000 troops to invade Iraq.
Iraq's state-run al-Jumhuriya daily on Monday urged Arab governments and people to ``stand firm against U.S. aggressive schemes'' against Iraq and the Arabs. In a front-page editorial, the newspaper called on Arab governments to use oil as a weapon against the United States and Britain.
Saddam has called on Arab oil exporters to boycott the West before, but Gulf oil producers say such a move would be impractical and not in their interest.
In Cairo, foreign ministers of Arab League nations ended a two-day meeting with a final communique that seeks to avoid U.S.-Iraq confrontation.
It urges Iraq and the United Nations to work together to implement the resolution and calls on the United States to commit to pledges it gave Syria that the resolution could not be used to justify military action.
``In our deliberations, the consensus was to deal with the Security Council resolution, accepting its direction, and this is left for the government of Iraq to decide,'' Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told reporters late Sunday after the meeting ended.
The Arab ministers put forward a united position of ``absolute rejection'' of any military action against Iraq, saying it represents a threat to the security of all Arab nations - a view Iraqi officials have pressed in recent lobbying of fellow Arab leaders.
They also demanded Arab experts be included on U.N. weapons inspection teams, but did not specify numbers or nationalities, and called on the Security Council to require Israel to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction.
In Damascus, the opposition Iraqi Communist Party in exile urged the government to accept the resolution, calling it ``the last chance for a diplomatic and peaceful solution.''
11/11/02 15:01 EST |
