Iraq To U.N.: We're Clean

Iraq's foreign minister told the United Nations, in a speech attributed to Saddam Hussein, that his country is free of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

"Our country is ready to receive any scientific experts, accompanied by politicians you choose to represent any one of your countries, to tell us which places and scientific installations they would wish to see," Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told the world body, quoting the Iraqi president.

"I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons," Sabri said, further quoting Saddam.

The comments were the first attributed to the Iraqi leader since the surprise announcement from Baghdad earlier this week that it would accept the unconditional return of international weapons inspectors nearly four years after they left. The decision, which followed a tough speech on Iraq last week by President Bush, has divided the major powers on the U.N. Security Council.

The White House dismissed Sabri's speech at the U.N., calling it a disappointing failure in every respect.

"Iraq failed to accept the truth and engaged in additional deceptions and showed no willingness to change attitude or behavior," said spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Mr. Bush, meanwhile, asked Congress for authority to use "all means he determines to be appropriate, including force" to disarm and overthrow Saddam, saying the United States will take action on its own if the Security Council balks.

The president sent to Capitol Hill his proposed wording for a resolution that would give him such broad war-making authority. He told reporters in the Oval Office that the power to use force was all-important. "If you want to keep the peace, you've got to have the authorization to use force," he said.

Nine Democratic and Republican lawmakers emerged from a morning audience with the president predicting bipartisan support for the commander in chief. "I think we have no choice but to have the strongest support possible for the president's efforts here," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash.

Mr. Bush also served notice, in his bluntest language to date, that he expects a tough new resolution on Iraq from the United Nations, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.

"The United Nations Security Council must work with the United States and Britain and other concerned parties to send a clear message that we expect Saddam to disarm and if the United Nations Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of its friends will."

Mr. Bush declined to name any of the allies he's counting on for support, saying only that "time will tell."

"I think you're going to see that a lot of nations love freedom. ... We're confident that people will follow our lead," he added.

The U.S. and Britain have begun crafting a draft resolution that would tighten the timetable Iraq has to comply with previous U.N. resolutions and authorize force if it fails to do so.

But the two English-speaking allies will need to overcome strong opposition from France, Russia and Arab states, which believe there is no need for such a move before inspectors can test Iraq's sincerity on the ground.

Sabri's speech at the U.N. heavily criticized the United States and Mr. Bush for trying to link Iraq in some way to the tragedy of Sept. 11.

It charged that "the American propaganda machine, along with official statements of lies, distortion and falsehood" was being used for "inciting the American public against Iraq, and pushing them to accept the U.S. administration's schemes of aggression as a fait accompli."

Iraq called on the United Nations to help protect its sovereignty in the face of possible U.S. military action.

And it charged that the United States was working in concert with Israel and was trying to control the Middle East oil supply.

"The U.S. administration wants to destroy Iraq in order to control the Middle East oil and consequently control the politics as well as the oil and economic policies of the whole world," the foreign minister said.

He also charged that the United States was fomenting problems with Iraq to prevent the Security Council from lifting economic sanctions and to keep the Middle East from becoming a nuclear-free zone as called for in council resolutions.

The United States, he said, does not want to embarrass Israel — which he referred to as "the Zionist entity" — or deprive it of the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons it possesses.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met late Wednesday with Sabri, who said Iraq hoped the return of inspector would be a "first step toward a comprehensive solution to the crisis in the relations between the United Nations and Iraq and the lifting of the brutal regime of sanctions which has been killing our people for 12 years."

In a statement, Annan said that Sabri had pledged his government's full cooperation on finalizing arrangements for the swift return of inspectors.

U.N. sanctions were imposed and inspectors sent to Baghdad at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War to disarm Iraq and certify that the country's weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed.

But after seven difficult years, often peppered with crisis over access to sites and cooperation, inspectors left Iraq in December 1998 ahead of punishing U.S. and British air strikes.

At the time, the United Nations disbanded the first inspections team amid allegations that some members were spying for the United States. A new inspection team was established and Hans Blix of Sweden was appointed to head the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspections Commission.

Blix has said he could have people on the ground as soon as he is able to finalize details for their return with Iraq in talks scheduled later this month in Vienna.