WASHINGTON, April 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States has formally
responded to an Iraqi offer for sending a delegation to the country to
investigate the fate of a U.S. pilot whose plane was shot down early in
the Persian Gulf War in 1991, a Pentagon official said on Thursday.
Baghdad sent an offer earlier this week to the State Department,via
the Red Cross, proposing that a U.S. team visit Iraq to determine what
happened to Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher.
The Iraqi offer had several conditions, including that the media
cover any search team's activities and that American Scott Ritter, a
former U.N. weapons inspector who has been critical of some U.S. policies
toward Iraq, be part of any U.S. delegation.
The Pentagon official said that Washington had issued a tentative
response to the Iraqi offer. the reply is thought to reject the conditions
made by Baghdad, while demanding full U.S. access to any sites, materials
or personnel it requests.
The official said the United States would send a search team only
if Iraq can offer new information. Enditem
