United Nations: Boosting the case being made by US and Britain for military action
to disarm Iraq, senior United Nations officials have said Baghdad is still not
providing answers to some of their basic questions.
The inspectors said Iraq has not given them all information about its weapons of
mass destruction, including nuclear, biological and chemical, and long-range
missiles. "Clearly, Iraq needs to do more by way of co-operating, particularly on
unresolved disarmament issues, which are clearly issues of substance,'' Ewen
Buchanan, spokesman for chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said on February 20.
In a 22-page letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan, Iraq has refuted the charges
made by American Secretary Of State Colin Powell that it is hiding or moving around
its weapon of mass destruction and contended that it has no such weapons.
Iraqi Ambassador Mohammad al Douri said an empty hand cannot produce anything, but
also pledged that his country would fully co-operate with the inspectors.
Iraq needs to do more on substance and co-operate on unresolved issues, which
include information about stocks of its chemical and biological weapons, including
deadly VX nerve gas and their precursors, according to inspectors.
Reports say the inspectors are under intense pressure from the US and Britain to
produce results.
But British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock denied that, saying Blix could not be
pressurised by anyone. Inspectors follow his orders.
Al Douri said Iraqi government has sent a communication to Blix, offering that
inspectors analyse the ground where anthrax and VX were destroyed. It has also
identified persons who destroyed them.
Iraq maintains that it had destroyed all stocks in 1991 unilaterally, but
Blix had said he wants to see the proof. In his report on February 14, he had said
the proof provided so far by Iraq was not adequate.
Iraq is now allowing surveillance flights by American U-2 spy plane and wants
inspectors to use French Mirage and Russian Antonovs also for that purpose.
PTI
