Iraq Rejects Proposed UN Resolution On Inspections

Looks like Iraq's tune is shifting from allowing inspectors in "unconditionally" to "any additional procedure is meant to hurt Iraq and is unacceptable". Is the US-drafted Security Council resolution really unfair to Iraq? And whats with Iraq calling the Americans and British Zionists as of late? Propaganda?
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Foxnews.com

U.N. Draft Resolution Threatens Use of 'All Necessary Means'

UNITED NATIONS — Iraq has already rejected the terms of a no-nonsense U.S.-proposed Security Council draft resolution forcing the country to give up all weapons of mass destruction and to allow U.N. weapons inspectors unfettered access to all presidential weapons sites.


White House spokesman Jim Orr told Fox News Saturday that "compliance with the UN resolution is not a matter of negotiation. Iraq simply needs to comply; Iraq needs to disarm and honor its commitments. There is no negotiating with Iraq."

Iraq has threatened a "fierce war" if attacked.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would have seven days to agree with the resolution, and Baghdad would have to comply with the new arms inspection rules within 30 days or face military action. Saddam would also need to quickly present the council with a list of banned materials in Iraq's possession.

The resolution would threaten the use of "all necessary means" against Saddam if he doesn’t comply.

But Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan on Saturday rejected the draft.

"Our position on the inspectors has been decided and any additional procedure is meant to hurt Iraq and is unacceptable," Ramadan said.

Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz warned Saturday that the United States would suffer major losses if it invades Iraq, and an influential Baghdad newspaper denied U.S. accusations that Iraq had links with Al Qaeda.

"Any aggression on Iraq will not be a picnic, instead it will be a fierce fight where America will suffer losses that have not been sustained for decades," Aziz said. "Iraq is determined to resist and defeat any U.S. attack."

Aziz accused "Zionist circles" in Britain and the United States of pushing the two nations into war against Iraq to serve Israel, and added: "They (the Americans and the British) are trying to redraw the map of the Arab region in order to control its resources."

Meanwhile, U.S. and British leaders continue to use diplomatic means to persuade other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- France, Russia and China, who all have veto power -- to overcome grave concerns and back the proposal designed to rid Iraq of any nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

On Saturday, Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman, who met with French officials in Paris on Friday, and British diplomat Peter Ricketts, went to Moscow to meet with Russian officials. London sent a second envoy to Beijing for talks with senior Chinese officials.

"Our purpose here today was not to negotiate a text, was not to come to any agreement," Grossman said after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov. The Russians "had some questions, we tried to give some answers."

Ivanov told Russian television the U.N. inspectors should return to Iraq "as soon as they can" to "give a clear answer to the question of whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction or not."

The sessions included U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow and Peter Ricketts, political director of the British Foreign Office.

"We put out an extensive dossier a few days ago and that's obviously going to be a subject of discussion around the capitals of the five (permanent Security Council members) ... This is a process that is going to take some time," Ricketts said.

Officials say the draft gives the inspectors the right to designate "no-fly" and "no-drive" zones in Iraq. Currently, "no-fly" zones in the north and south of the country are patrolled by U.S. and British warplanes.

The resolution also would nullify assurances U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave Saddam in 1998 that restrict inspections of presidential sites, including Saddam's palaces.

The resolution also wants to end the Iraqi practice of assigning government guides to accompany inspectors throughout the country. It details Iraq's violations and specifies what Baghdad must do to correct them, especially "full, final and complete destruction" of weapons of mass destruction.

Bush has called French President Jacques Chirac to try to win his backing for the U.S.-British proposal. But Chirac resisted, telling Bush he opposed threatening Iraq with military force before inspections.

Chirac, instead, urged Bush to back a French approach for two resolutions -- a first one calling for full compliance and cooperation with inspectors, and a second one authorizing force should Iraq fail to comply.

While Secretary of State Colin Powell and other U.S. diplomats strive to gain approval for the resolution, the Bush administration is struggling to persuade Congress to authorize the use of force against Iraq.

Bush said he was willing to wait and see if the United Nations could force Saddam to disarm before the United States acts on its own.

"I'm willing to give peace a chance to work. I want the United Nations to work," Bush said at a Republican fund-raising event in Denver.

But Bush said action must come quickly.

"Now is the time," he said. "For the sake of your children's future we must make sure this madman never has the capacity to hurt us with a nuclear weapon, or to use the stockpiles of anthrax that we know he has, or VX, the biological weapons which he possesses."

Meanwhile, Israel Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Israel Radio that his government's been talking too much about a possible U.S. strike against Iraq. That country’s prime minister, defense minister, army chief and others have all spoken in detail about the dangers posed by Iraq and Israel's possible role in a U.S.-Iraq war.

Peres said it's important to avoid creating the impression his country is encouraging the U.S. to go to war and Israel should merely declare it would defend itself if attacked.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.