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To: Jamey who wrote (31495)	11/5/1998 2:21:00 PM
From: Jamey	Respond to of 95453

Bagdad still thumbing their nose at U.S. Jordan Times 11-5-98 Cohen in Gulf over Iraq crisis; Baghdad defiant KUWAIT (R) — "U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen tried on Wednesday to whip up support among America's Gulf allies over a new crisis with Iraq, but Baghdad newspapers thundered defiance in the face of possible military attack. During intense round-the-clock diplomacy to persuade Iraq to reverse a decision to suspend cooperation with inspectors searching for banned weapons, Washington and London repeatedly warned that one option to gain compliance was the use of force. But Baghdad newspapers said on Wednesday Iraq would not be cowed. “Empty threats...and vicious behaviour there will not force Iraq to reverse its victorious decision,” the weekly Al Ilam said in a front-page editorial. The press also attacked Washington for whipping up anti-Iraqi sentiment. “Iraqi people and leadership are aware of the U.S. designs and they are confident that they can abort these designs,” the Iraqi English daily Baghdad Observer said. British Defence Secretary George Robertson, who agreed on Tuesday in London with Cohen that force was an option and told Iraq to back off, said on Wednesday the crisis was grave. “There is an urgent and serious crisis developing for the world community,” Robertson told a meeting of European defence ministers in Vienna. “With one voice there is one signal to Baghdad that compliance with the U.N. is the only alternative for [Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein at this time.” On his crisis mission to rally support, Cohen left Saudi Arabia “confident the U.S. will have the support it needs to take appropriate action.” Cohen is expected to get backing in Kuwait before visiting Bahrain, headquarters to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, later on Wednesday. He visits Turkey on Friday. At the United Nations in New York there was general support for a British resolution condemning Saturday's decision to suspend cooperation with inspectors as a “flagrant violation” of a 1991 resolution that set disarmament rules after the Gulf war. U.N. inspectors in Iraq are overseeing the destruction of weapons of mass destruction as a pre-condition for the lifting of international economic sanctions, imposed to punish Baghdad for the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Two U.N. technical teams in Iraq went out on Wednesday to check monitoring equipment and change air sampling devices for detecting chemicals in the atmosphere. Baghdad has suspended cooperation but is allowing inspectors to maintain surveillance. “This is a very tiny proportion of the monitoring activities that we would normally carry out,” a U.N. spokeswoman said. There was to be further closed door consultations at the United Nations on Wednesday over the British resolution which does not threaten force but which aims to isolate Iraq and maintain unity among all 15 U.N. council members." Jordan Times 11-5-98