Iraq: No Compromise On Weapons

In its first response to a special U.N. request to cooperate, Iraq said Wednesday that lifting sanctions is the only way to defuse the dispute over weapons inspections.

The declaration appeared in a statement published in the influential newspaper Babil, which is run by President Saddam Hussein's son, Odai. The newspaper often is used to express the government's views.

It was the first Iraqi response to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's dispatch of a special envoy to Baghdad with a message asking Iraqi leaders to cooperate in a comprehensive review of weapons inspections and sanctions.
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which sparked the Gulf War.

The council has said that the sanctions, which bar air travel and most sales of oil, Iraq's economic mainstay, will not be lifted until inspectors certify that Iraq has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction, as called for in U.N. resolutions.

The front-page editorial in Babil said Iraq appreciates Annan's good will in seeking a solution. But the paper added that Iraq "also hopes that he will understand that the situation no longer bears more partial compromises and settlements."

Babil said Baghdad would welcome special envoy Prakash Shah but that he will find "on both public and official levels a determination by Iraq to obtain all its legitimate rights, firstly the immediate implementation of paragraph 22 of [U.N.] resolution 687."

That paragraph calls for the lifting of trade sanctions on Iraq once it completes the elimination of its weapons of mass destruction.

Babil said Iraq also will insist on the closure of various weapons files related to disarmament. "This is the least Iraq can accept before embarking on a new agreement or settlement," it said.

Annan proposed the review of weapons inspections on Monday after Iraq last week declared it would no longer cooperate with U.N. inspectors investigating potential arms caches in the country.

He urged the government to show common sense and renew cooperation with inspectors, and promised in return that the U.N. would treat Iraqis with fairness.

Shah is scheduled to arrive in Iraq on Thursday.

Written by Leon Barkho