The director of a company involved in production of the Al Samoud 2 missile said Saturday that obeying an order from the United Nations to destroy the weapons would deprive Iraq of an important means of defense just as it is being threatened
over having illegal means of such "defense".
No Iraqi official has commented publicly on the order Friday from chief weapons inspector Hans Blix that Iraq hand over dozens of Al Samoud 2 missiles and components for destruction, which would begin by March 1.
New moon and next due date for Hans' updates
An assistant to Gen. Hossam Mohamed Amin, chief Iraqi liaison officer to the UN inspectors, told The Associated Press on Saturday said he still hadn't seen the chief inspector's letter and couldn't comment.
"You know how slow our mail service is... we can't be expected to answer a letter we haven't actually seen and held in our own hands... we should receive it.. oh, around April 30th"
On Saturday, a UN team of inspectors visited the Ibn al-Haithem company, which produces and assembles Al Samoud 2s. After they left, company director Owayed Ahmed Ali said only two of the missiles had been tested above the range allowed by the United Nations.
"We've only tested two, and have no reason to believe identical missiles will go as far... our quality control sucks"
"They want to destroy them at a time when we are threatened daily , every minute and every second," he said.
"I asked (the inspectors), 'You would destroy a defensive weapon now that we are threatened by the Americans, who might strike at any moment?"' he added. "Some (the French and Germans) said, 'You are right, but we have orders,' while others said, 'You have other means to defend yourself."' Ali said nine inspectors visited the company on Saturday and split into three groups. They entered "workshops, assembly areas and all departments. They tagged some of the missiles that were still being assembled," he said.
| I just love these rock-hard place situations... |
Mohammed Modhaffar al-Adhami, a member of Iraq's parliament, told The Associated Press on Friday that he believed Iraq would destroy the missiles if so ordered. He said Iraq wanted to avoid what he called the "aggression" threatened by the United States if Iraq fails to comply with the UN's disarmament program. "Iraq will do the maximum in its cooperation to avoid any aggression ... even (destroying) the missiles," al-Adhami said.
"We intend to destroy them safely in flight ...over Kuwait, Israel, Saudi arabia, etc...thank you"
Tests of the Al Samoud have determined that the weapon exceeds the 150-kilometer (93-mile) range limit set by UN resolutions adopted at the end of the 1991 Gulf War.
| That's supposed to be the max range, not the approximate range... |
Iraq's vice president offered to hold a dialogue with the United States, saying in a TV interview broadcast Friday that his country was ready to negotiate if Washington ends talk of war. Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan's interview was aired on Iraq's Al-Shabab Television, which is owned by President Saddam Hussein's son, Odai.
Is he the smart one or the (other) crazy one?
| He's the one who likes pulling the wings off vultures... |
"We are ready for a dialogue with the American administration and ready to build economic relations," he said. "If they abandon aggression, and there is a dialogue that leads to normal relations, achieves mutual interests far away from interference in internal affairs, then we have no objection." The offer, which appeared aimed largely at the Iraqi public, is unlikely to attract a favorable response in Washington, which insists that Saddam first give up his alleged weapons of mass destruction. Saddam insists he already has.
| All he has to do is show us. Or he could leave town in the dead of night, clutching a suitcase full of the national treasury, and somebody else could show us. |
In Washington, US Secretary of State Colin Powell made an offer of his own Friday, declaring that if the Iraqi leader cooperates with UN disarmament demands, "or if he leaves the country tomorrow, there will be no war."
| That's the same thing I just said. I feel like such a diplomat. Can I have my striped pants now? |
They'll still have to disarm though
"People are hoping that war can be avoided," Powell said. "I hope it can be avoided. But the one who has the power in his hands to decide whether there will be a war or peace is Saddam Hussein."
| He hopes war can be avoided, too. He just doesn't want to do anything to avoid it. |
In addition to Ibn al-Haitham, the inspectors headed to eight other sites Saturday including the 7th of April factory, 30 kilometers (20 miles) east of Baghdad, which contributes to some Iraqi missile programs with the development of fuses, the Information Ministry said. Other sites visited included a medical college in the northern city of Mosul, a facility for heavy engineering and a dairy factory, the ministry said. On Friday, nuclear inspectors interviewed an engineer and a magnet specialist, both members of Iraq's former gas centrifuge program, inspectors spokesman Hiro Ueki said. Biological and chemical inspectors also have been trying to interview key Iraqi scientists, but have not conducted an interview since Feb. 7 because of a dispute over whether the scientists can tape the interviews. |