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The Bigger Picture
1.26.02
Reuters/US Impedes Iraq Attempt to Resolve UN Impasse
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http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20020126_102.html
WIRE: 01/26/2002 4:09 am ET
US Impedes Iraq Attempt to Resolve Impasse with UN-Paper
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's most influential newspaper accused the
United States on Saturday of impeding Iraq's attempts to resolve an
impasse with the United Nations over arms inspection.
"Despite Iraq's efforts to open a new page of relations with the
United Nations, such as Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz's current
visit to Russia...the American administration is still planning to
launch new aggression on Iraq," said Babel, the newspaper of
President Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday.
Aziz held talks with top officials in Moscow over the past three days
on a Russian initiative which calls for easing international sanctions
on Iraq in exchange for cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors.
The inspectors, who went to Iraq to monitor the destruction of Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction after the 1991 Gulf War, left in December
1998 and have not been allowed to return.
President Bush has repeatedly warned Saddam he would face
consequences for his refusal to allow in U.N. weapons inspectors to
look for signs that weapons of mass destruction were under
development.
Congressional leaders have urged Bush to make Iraq the next target
after Afghanistan in the U.S. "war on terrorism."
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Thursday, after talks
with Aziz, that Russia was opposed to any U.S. military operation
against Iraq.
Babel said Iraqis were not scared by "American threats" and they
would be able to repel any U.S. attack.
"At a time we are pursuing goodwill efforts to resolve the situation
peacefully, our finger is on the trigger against any military attack
by the United States," Babel said in a front-page editorial.
Asked if Baghdad was ready to bow to U.S. pressure and allow the
inspectors back, Aziz said in Moscow: "If you want a solution, you
have to want a package -- we support that."
"We will carry out our obligations, but let others carry out their
obligations in accordance with the U.N. Security Council's
resolutions," he added.
In Riyadh, Arab League chief Amr Moussa held talks with Saudi
Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah on Thursday during a regional tour
linked to an Iraqi initiative to bring Baghdad out of isolation.
Moussa had traveled to Kuwait on Wednesday to discuss the result of
his earlier visit to Baghdad, during which he said Saddam had asked
him to convey a new Iraqi initiative to the United Nations and Arab
leaders.
Details of the Iraqi initiative have not been made public.
Iraq has been under international sanctions since its 1990 invasion
of Kuwait and its expulsion from the oil-rich country in the U.S.-led
Gulf War the following year.
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