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Blix: Iraq violating U.N. arms ban
U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Thursday Iraq had clearly violated a U.N. arms ban by importing illegal material that could be used to build nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Speaking after briefing senior EU officials, Blix said: "We have found things that have been illegally imported, even in 2001 and 2002. The question of whether they relate to weapons of mass destruction requires further inspection."
Blix, who is due to brief French President Jacques Chirac and British premier Tony Blair Friday before traveling to Baghdad, said the message he was taking to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was that the situation is "very tense and very dangerous."
On the eve of the 12th anniversary of the Gulf War that drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait, the United States has sent more than 100,000 troops to the region and Washington has made it abundantly clear it intends to use them if Baghdad does not comply with U.N. calls to disarm. Blix said patience with Iraq was running out and that the oil-rich country had to decide whether to cooperate more proactively with weapons inspectors or face the threat of a U.S.-led war.
"We feel Iraq must do more than it has so far in order to make inspections a credible avenue. The other major avenue is in the form of armed action against Iraq," he said. "We are trying our best to make inspections effective so we can have a peaceful solution." The Swedish diplomat will present a report on his team's findings to the U.N. Security Council on Jan. 27. However, he attempted to dampen speculation this would automatically trigger an assault on Baghdad. "I don't think history will finish on Jan. 27," he said, adding the report was just an "update" and that further Security Council briefings were scheduled for February. Blix said that after two months, 130 U.N. inspectors were in Iraq, using eight helicopters and radar equipment to search for weapons of mass destruction.
However, the chief investigator accused Iraqi authorities of preventing inspectors from interviewing 500 Iraqi scientists identified as having worked on weapons projects. "If Iraq is absolutely sure they have nothing to hide, it should ensure they are allowed to be interviewed without intimidation," Blix said. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana Thursday also stepped up the pressure on Baghdad to comply with U.N. resolutions or face military action. "It is not enough that Saddam Hussein's regime opens doors. It has to be much more proactive to convince the United Nations that it has disarmed its weapons of mass destruction," he told reporters after meeting Blix. Solana said a war with Iraq could be averted but "the responsibility is basically on the side of Saddam Hussein."
Have Blix and the EU finally had enough of Saddam's games? One can only hope, the non-interviews with scientists may do it.
Posted by: Steve 2003-01-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=9300