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To: Giraffe who wrote (22844)	11/11/1998 11:35:00 AM
From: Alex	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116790

FOCUS-U.N. pulls out of Baghdad, crisis escalates (Adds U.S. buildup, Aziz/Shah/Annan comments, U.S. embassy announcement in Kuwait, Clinton to speak on Iraq at 1600 GMT) BAGHDAD, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday suddenly evacuated arms inspectors and relief staff from Baghdad for their own safety as the United States sent extra warplanes to the Gulf for a possible military strike against Iraq. More than 100 arms inspectors left Baghdad in a convoy of buses, jeeps and trucks because of the rapidly escalating crisis over Iraq's refusal to cooperate with the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of Iraqi disarmament. Iraq was in no mood to back down. Prakash Shah, U.N. special envoy to Iraq, said he met Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz to inform him of the pullout. ''He is not able to rescind this decision (to end cooperation) unless the Security Council takes some action regarding the sanctions,'' he said. While Western leaders have set no deadline for Iraq to rescind its refusal, diplomats and Western officials said that Wednesday's evacuation set the countdown ticking for possible air strikes within the next two weeks. ''The measure is of a precautionary nature and is being instituted solely with the safety of U.N. staff in mind,'' a statement issued by the United Nations in Baghdad said. The Pentagon, as part of its military build-up in the Gulf, said on Wednesday it would send possibly 50 more attack and support planes as well as several radar-avoiding stealth fighters. ''It could come as early as today,'' one official said. In a fast-moving drama, Washington authorised the departure of all non-essential embassy staff and dependants in Kuwait. ''In light of this information, private American citizens may want to consider departing the country,'' the U.S. embassy in Kuwait said in a consular message. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler ordered all his foreign staff out of Iraq and Hans von Sponeck, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said all non-essential staff among the 220 U.N. aid workers would also leave. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it was pulling its weapons inspectors out of Iraq after consulting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan, who in February went to Baghdad and negotiated a deal that defused another major crisis over weapon inspections, said on Wednesday he expected to cut short his trip to North Africa because of the gravity of the situation. ''It is highly possible that I will shorten my trip in the region and go to New York to follow up the Iraqi crisis,'' Annan told reporters in Morocco's southern city of Marrakesh. U.N.-contracted experts overseeing Iraq's oil flow under an ''oil-for-food'' programme, which allows Iraq oil sales of up to $5.25 billion every six months for food and medicines, remained in place but were put on standby in case of emergency. Shah said the programme would continue despite the pulllout. U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen had earlier warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that ''time is running out'' and that round-the-clock diplomacy to try to settle the impasse peacefully was showing signs of running its course. ''This can't go on forever,'' Cohen said at the Pentagon on Tuesday, adding President Bill Clinton had made no final decision on launching a missile and bomb attack. ''Diplomacy always should have every opportunity to dance. But at some point, a dance has a beginning and an end.'' The U.S. aircraft carrier Enterprise, which is to replace the carrier Einsenhower in the Gulf, would now arrive on November 23 instead of November 26, Cohen told reporters. A fresh marine helicopter carrier arrives on the same day. Clinton planned to use a Veterans Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday to comment on the latest situation in Iraq. His speech is set for 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT). Russia, which has long-standing ties with Iraq and is reluctant to see Washington flex its military muscle around the world, reaffirmed its opposition to the use of force but urged Baghdad to resume cooperation with inspectors. Baghdad on August 5 announced UNSCOM could no longer carry out intrusive inspections. On October 31 it went a step further, halting even the monitoring of previously declared sites and permitting only the servicing of equipment such as cameras. Iraq has said it would not resume cooperation with the inspectors unless the U.N. Security Council reviewed economic sanctions imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. It has blamed Butler and his staff for prolonging the sanctions, saying they were following hardline U.S. policy. UNSCOM, which is responsible for ridding Iraq of biological, chemical and ballistic arms, had about 120 staff in Iraq. IAEA inspectors are in charge of nuclear arms. The lifting of the embargoes on Iraq depend on certification that Iraq no longer has weapons of mass destruction. ''In view of the uncertainties surrounding the current situation...it has been decided to relocate,'' the U.N. statment in Baghdad said. The monitors later arrived in Bahrain. Other officials went to Jordan. Immediately after the withdrawal started Iraq said the inspectors had not been expelled but once again reiterated the defiance it has repeatedly expressed since the crisis erupted on October 31. ''We hope that a strike will not take place, but if it happens we will defend ourselves and our country,'' said Khalid Shahab al-Douri, head of the Arab and Foreign Relations Committee at the Iraqi parliament. The United States has a major air and naval force in the Gulf and the Pentagon says that force, including ship-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, could deal a hammer blow against Iraq. NATO allies were locked in consultations over Iraq on Wednesday. ''The allies are very preoccupied by the situation,'' a NATO official told reporters in Brussels.