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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (367517)	3/6/2003 10:18:45 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

ElBaradei: 'We are making progress' NEW YORK (AP) — The chief U.N. nuclear inspector suggested he would tell the Security Council in a key briefing Friday that abandoning the weapons inspections makes little sense so long as the Iraqis are actively cooperating. "That's clearly the gist of my presentation: In my area, inspection is working. We are making progress. There's no reason to scuttle the process," Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Associated Press on a flight Thursday from Vienna, where the IAEA is headquartered. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, who will update the council along with chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix, said his assessment would contain no surprises or new revelations on the hunt for weapons of mass destruction. Instead, ElBaradei planned to highlight fresh Iraqi resolve to cooperate by encouraging scientists to consent to U.N. interviews and turn over documents. He also intended to plea anew for more time — at least two or three more months — for the inspectors to do their work. Even a few months more could help clear up nagging questions about Saddam Hussein's alleged nuclear aspirations, ElBaradei said. "Things are moving," he said. "It might have taken a few weeks, but I think we see now a different attitude (in Baghdad). If they accelerate their cooperation, I see no reason why we should stop at this juncture." While acknowledging that the window for weapons inspections may be rapidly closing as the United States continues its buildup of military forces in the Persian Gulf, ElBaradei deflected criticism by Secretary of State Colin Powell that inspections no longer are a viable way to end the crisis. "Probably we haven't moved as fast as we should, but if we are moving, I see no reason why we shouldn't give the inspections a chance," he said, adding emphatically: "I'm not sure why it's too late. ... I don't think we're failing." France, Russia and Germany want the inspectors to be given more time to peacefully eliminate banned weapons, and warned this week they would block any attempt to win U.N. authorization for military action. Powell has dismissed inspections as futile and the latest Iraqi steps to disarm as "too little, too late." With war looming, the roughly 200-member team of U.N. inspectors and support staff in Iraq is prepared to pull out within hours of a military strike, a senior inspector told AP en route from Baghdad to U.N. headquarters. "We've had contingency plans to leave since the first day we were there," said Demetrius Perricos, director of planning and operations for Blix's New York-based U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission. Inspections resumed in Iraq on Nov. 27 after a nearly four-year break. "I don't want any of our people to come in harm's way," ElBaradei said. The IAEA chief, whose inspectors neutralized Iraq's nuclear program in 1998 and since have found no proof that Saddam is still trying to build a nuclear weapon, said his agency continues investigating imports of uranium, magnets and aluminum tubes to ensure they were not destined for nuclear use. "We've been getting access, and recently we've been getting lots of documents" from the interviewed scientists, ElBaradei said. Should war force the inspectors to pull out, they will continue analyzing such material in Vienna and rely on satellite imagery and intelligence until they can return, he said. "I hope we're not into a conflict situation. I don't like to think of that," ElBaradei said. If the Security Council splits on a resolution to authorize military force — a vote that could come early next week — "that would be a heavy blow to the whole system of collective security that will go far beyond Iraq," he warned.