U.N.: Iraqi Defiance 'Unacceptable'

The U.N. Security Council Thursday declared Iraq's freeze of cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors "totally unacceptable" and called for the urgent resumption of dialogue between inspectors and Iraq.

Iraq stopped a team of U.N. inspectors from carrying out searches for banned weapons in Baghdad Thursday, an Iraqi official said, threatening to reignite a dispute that nearly led to war six months ago.

It was the most defiant Iraqi gesture since a crisis over weapons searches at presidential compounds was resolved in February, averting a possible U.S. and British military strike.

"I think we need to be determined, we need to be persistent and we need to press on . . . . I don't think we necessarily will need military force," U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan told reporters after the Security Council meeting.

This latest gamble by Saddam Hussein is designed to force the U.N.'s hand to lift sanctions, CBS News Correspondent Allen Pizzey reports. Iraqis accused the U.N. of dragging out the inspection in order to keep Iraq under sanctions.

"They promised that we will deal with the so-called remaining issues, in order to tackle them quickly and honestly," said Iraq's foreign minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. "They came with more artificial problems in order to procrastinate — in order not to solve the so-called remaining issues."

Bill Richardson, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said Thursday, "We think Iraq is defiant. It's wrong. It's going to have to reverse itself once again to allow full, unconditional acess to all sites."

A major issue is a recent find in the Iraqi desert: missile parts with traces of deadly VX nerve gas. Iraq claimed the research did not reach the stage of being able to deliver VX on a warhead. The find indicates they were lying. But Iraq claims the evidence was planted by the inspectors.

Richardson said after the Security Council meeting that the U.S. is "very pleased" with the outcome.

Concerning Saddam's defiance, Butler said Wednesday: "We're getting there. If this was a five-lap race, we were halfway into the fifth lap. Why stop the race when you're getting towards the finish line?"

Saddam may be gambling that a crisis will be manageable. The U.S. is distracted by domestic politics, and Iraq has plenty of support in the U.N. for lifting the sanctions.
The only surprise is the timing. The next U.N. report on the weapons program isn't due until October. Saddam has decided to set the stage early.