Little time left, Blix warns Iraq

2003-02-06 21:07

London - The United Nations' chief weapons inspectors on Thursday urged Iraq to step up its co-operation with UN experts "at this late hour", eight days before they are to deliver a report to the UN security council that could trigger war.

"We hope that at this late hour they (Iraq) will come to a positive response. If they do not do that, then our reports next Friday will not be what we would like them to be," said chief weapons inspector Hans Blix.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, agreed, saying Iraq needs to show a "drastic change" of attitude in co-operating with UN inspectors before the February 14 report.

Both men, who briefed key US ally Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain on Thursday, are due to return to Baghdad on Saturday to compile fresh conclusions from more than three months of inspections.

Their admonition came as the world was digesting US Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation of what he said was evidence that Iraq is concealing biological, chemical and nuclear weapons - accusations Baghdad dismissed Thursday as aimed at "the uninformed".

Powell's charge that Iraq has systematically flouted UN demands to disarm under a November security council resolution left world opinion largely unmoved, but widely convinced that a US-led war is imminent - with or without a UN green light.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that February 14 would be the turning point in the crisis. "Time is now very short. This council will have further reports from the inspectors on Friday week. If (Iraqi) non-cooperation continues, this Council must meet its responsibilities," he said.

Nine yes votes needed

The report could be the basis for a second UN resolution authorising military action, a move that would require yes votes from nine of the security council's 15 members and could be quashed by a veto by any of the five permanent members.

Three of the Big Five - France, Russia and China - oppose the United States' and Britain's perceived rush to war, and remained unmoved by Powell's performance.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Thursday: "There is no reason to change Russia's position. The first analysis of this information shows that there is no significant new proof."

Earlier on Thursday, the Kremlin announced that President Vladimir Putin had concluded in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Jacques Chirac that the "positions of Russia and France correspond, and stand in favour of solving the Iraqi problem through political-diplomatic means."

Analysts expect France to join

Analysts have predicted that France would eventually join an offensive against Iraq in the same way it belatedly joined the coalition that fought in the Gulf War in 1991, fearing marginalisation and lack of influence in a post-war settlement.

But with the knowledge that they have a majority of French and European public opinion behind him, Chirac has so far insisted that "war is always an admission of failure."

China, for its part, issued no new position after calling on Thursday for more inspections and saying the United States should hand the intelligence used in Powell's briefing to Blix.

Staunchly pacifist Germany, the current security council president, echoed this demand while admitting "concern" over indications that Iraq may still possess weapons of mass destruction.

France, Germany and Belgium on Thursday stood in the way of a Nato decision to assist a US-led war on Iraq, arguing that military planning would put the Alliance irrevocably on the road to war when diplomacy still has a chance.

Powell's data 'out of date'

Meanwhile an expert at the Swedish think-tank SIPRI criticised Powell's data as out of date, concerning "arms and arms programmes which Iraq had, but when I say 'had', I mean we're talking about programmes from the 1990s.

"Concerning elements possibly justifying war, I don't think that Mr. Powell has provided proof on what has changed since the 1990s," said Jean-Pascal Zanders of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

For its part Iraq on Thursday charged that Powell's UN presentation had been "mainly for the uninformed" and was meant to pave for the way for an attack on Baghdad.

Amer al-Saadi, science adviser to President Saddam Hussein, also said Iraq had been "heartened" by the response of other countries that refused to be influenced by Powell's remarks.

"The purpose of the show that went on inside the security council was mainly for home consumption, for the uninformed," Saadi said.

"This is the message that was being told to the world and to the American public opinion," said Saadi, who accused Powell several times of "quoting out of context" and "conveniently omitting" details.

On the financial front, Powell's failure to persuade sceptical allies of the need for war in Iraq left investors on tenterhooks, with world stock markets and the dollar falling, and oil prices going up.

European markets fell heavily - in tandem with US and Asian shares - despite a decision by the Bank of England to cut interest rates to their lowest level for almost half a century because of the weak global economic outlook.

On the ground in the Gulf region, an accumulating mass of military force, now topping 110 000 troops and soon to be joined by a fourth aircraft carrier, provided a menacing backdrop to the intensifying world debate.

More than half of the troops are in Kuwait, where a US-led coalition of more than 30 nations vanquished Iraqi forces in 1991.

On Thursday the United States announced a $12m contribution to the UN refugee agency which is preparing for a possible humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands of people are expected to flee Iraq to neighbouring countries, mainly Iran, Jordan and Kuwait, if a conflict erupts. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA