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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (57034)	11/14/2002 1:32:14 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

miami.com UN officials in Baghdad are preparing to receive weapons inspectors due to arrive next week. Jassim Mohammed, Associated Press U.S., Iraq may be nearing showdown By BARRY SCHWEID Associated Press WASHINGTON - Iraq's bitterly worded acceptance of U.N. demands that it disarm has failed to ease tensions with the Bush administration. Instead, the two sides are moving into position for a showdown. President Bush, signaling unabated impatience with Saddam Hussein, says he will not tolerate deception, denial or deceit as Iraq faces a series of deadlines imposed by the U.N. Security Council. "The world expects Saddam Hussein to disarm for the sake of peace," Bush said Wednesday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan at his side in the White House Oval Office. Annan quickly concurred. The U.N. resolution that requires Iraq to disarm or be faced with serious consequences, "must be implemented," he said. "Let the inspectors go in," Annan said. "I urge the Iraqis to cooperate with them and to perform and I think that is the test we are waiting for." Bush, meanwhile, renewed his warning that if Iraq "chooses not to disarm, we will have a coalition of the willing with us" to do the job. The international weapons inspectors are to resume their search for illegal caches by Dec. 23 and are to report to the Security Council 60 days after they start looking. At any point, failure by Iraq to comply with its obligations, and any false statements or omissions in the list, are to be reported by the inspectors to the Security Council. Administration officials suggested that Iraq may already be flouting the spirit of the resolution, first by declaring Wednesday it has no weapons of mass destruction. If Saddam continues to make that claim after the Dec. 8 deadline to declare his weapons program, he would be inviting war, U.S. officials said. The nine-page acceptance letter by Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri was delivered to Annan's office at the United Nations. While Sabri declared Iraq would comply with the resolution in an effort to spare the Iraqi people harm, he warned inspectors, who will begin to move into position next week, that Iraq would watch their actions very closely. "Dealing with the inspectors, the government of Iraq will ... take into consideration their way of conduct, the intentions of those who are ill-intentioned among them and their improper approach in showing respect to the people's national dignity, their independence and security, and their country's security, independence, and sovereignty," the letter said. In the letter, Sabri accused Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair of fabricating "the biggest and most wicked slander against Iraq" by claiming that it had or was on its way to producing nuclear weapons and had already produced biological and chemical weapons. At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher did not yield an inch. "Iraq needs to account for a lot," he said. "They need to account for the programs that they still had when the inspectors left in 1998. They need to account for the procurements that they've made and the new developments that we know have been ongoing. And they need to provide lists of all their holdings, and ... the personnel involved and the organizations involved, as well."