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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: portage who wrote (13762)	3/1/2003 12:58:45 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

The Defector’s Secrets Message 18644631

To: portage who wrote (13762)	3/1/2003 1:13:13 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Iraq starts destroying banned missiles Iraq has destroyed at least one of its banned Al-Samoud II missiles and will dismantle the rest within a "few days or a very short few weeks", says a senior United Nations official in Baghdad. Dimitri Perricos said another three of the medium-range missiles were scheduled to be destroyed by the end of Saturday under UN supervision at a military base near Baghdad. Mr Perricos also said one of two casting chambers used to build the missiles had been removed, and Iraqi officials said it would be destroyed Sunday. The chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, has described the move as "very significant" but the United States and the UK remain highly sceptical. Saturday was the deadline set by Mr Blix for Iraq to start destroying the missiles, which the UN says breach range limits it imposed after the 1991 Gulf War. The White House was unimpressed with events in Baghdad "Resolution1441 called for complete, total and immediate disarmament. It did not call for pieces of disarmament," said Merci Viana, a presidential spokeswoman. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned Iraq was just trying to split the international community. Iraq insists the missiles overshot their allowed limit only because they were tested without heavy guidance systems or warheads. British intelligence estimates that Iraq has already produced at least 50 al-Samoud II missiles. Nations divided Iraq's agreement in principle to destroy the missiles has been hailed by anti-war countries as proof that Iraq is willing to disarm. Mr Blix said: "This is a very significant piece of real disarmament." In a draft report written before Iraq agreed to destroy the missiles, Mr Blix told the UN Security Council that inspections had produced "very limited results". He formally submitted that report - said to be very similar to the draft - to the UN on Friday evening New York time. But he said his report had been largely overtaken by the Iraqi decision to destroy the al-Samoud missiles. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Iraq's decision on the missiles was an important step in the disarmament of Iraq. "It confirms that inspectors are getting results," he said. In other developments: The Turkish parliament meets in a closed session to vote on whether to allow US forces to use its soil for a possible invasion of Iraq The United Arab Emirates proposes to the Arab League summit in Egypt that Saddam Hussein and fellow leaders should go into exile to avert war UN weapons inspectors conduct their first private interview with Iraqi scientists for three weeks; one was a biologist, another an engineer Pope John Paul has written a message to President Bush outlining his concerns about a possible war in Iraq, and will send a senior cardinal to Washington in the next few days to deliver the letter. Story from BBC NEWS: news.bbc.co.uk

To: portage who wrote (13762)	3/2/2003 4:40:08 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Putin affirms anti-war stance Sunday, 2 March, 2003, 21:16 GMT news.bbc.co.uk Side by side, but not on Iraq Russian President Vladimir Putin has restated his firm opposition to a possible US-led war on Iraq, saying that the current crisis must be resolved through peaceful means. Speaking after talks in Sofia with Bulgarian President, Georgi Parvanov, Mr Putin said that diplomatic efforts to avoid war must continue. "There is only one criterion in taking decisions: We should be guided by principles and norms of international law," he said. The Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, meanwhile, has been speaking by phone to his counterparts from the 15 different countries that currently comprise the United Nations Security Council. The Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement said that the "common position" of Russia, France and Germany on the Iraqi crisis and the need for continuing weapons inspections was "confirmed". Lobbying council members Bulgaria, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council, has been one of the staunchest supporters of America and Britain's hardline stance towards Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Russia want arms inspections to continue It has granted Washington the use of a Black Sea air base and its airspace, although it has stated it would like to see a peaceful end to the crisis. Mr Putin acknowledged that the two countries had opposing views, but added that every nation had a right to define their own stance. "It must be said here that the Russian and Bulgarian positions on Iraq do not fully coincide," he said. "[But] each country defines its foreign policy according to its national interest. We have no problem with that." On Saturday, Mr Ivanov spoke to the foreign ministers of Angola, Guinea, Cameroon, Mexico, Pakistan, Syria and Chile, reaffirming "Russia's immutable position in favour of achieving an Iraqi settlement through exclusively peaceful, political and diplomatic means". He also "drew attention" to Russia's joint alternative proposal with France and Germany, which calls for UN weapons inspectors to continue their work until at least July, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Mirroring US tactics BBC Moscow correspondent Nikolai Gorshkov says that until now, Moscow has been focusing its diplomatic efforts on the main players in the Security Council, but now it appears to be turning to its less prominent members. Observers have pointed out that this mirrors US tactics of trying to get as many votes as possible secured in support of its position. Both Mr Putin and Mr Ivanov have said that Russia would use all available means to prevent a military conflict in Iraq, including a possible veto of any second UN resolution on the crisis. However, our correspondent says that there appears to be a consensus among Russian politicians that a confrontation with Washington must be avoided.