Front Page   

Iraq agrees to unconditional weapons inspections

UNITED NATIONS Sept. 17. Under the threat of military action by the United States and pressure from the Arab states, Iraq has agreed to admit United Nations weapons inspectors without conditions. But the U.S. has expressed scepticism about Baghdad's willingness to allow a real search for weapons of mass destruction.

Other nations on Tuesday cautiously welcomed the Iraqi about-face. Russia and China, who hold veto power in the U.N. Security Council, said it was a victory for concerted international efforts.

``Now our main task is to ensure that the inspectors can get to Iraq as soon as possible and start their work,'' the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, said.

In Baghdad, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, said weapons inspectors should finish their work ``within a reasonable time'' to facilitate the lifting of sanctions. He said the U.S. may still be looking for a reason to attack Iraq.

``If the inspectors come and act honestly, professionally... they can reach the truth within a reasonable time. But if the Americans are using this as a pretext, they might use some other way in order to commit an aggression against Iraq.''

Earlier, Mr. Aziz said Washington's sole goal was to dominate oil in the Persian Gulf region. He called upon the U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to monitor inspectors closely to ensure that they did not overstep their mission.

He said Iraq hoped that the return of the inspectors ``will lead as soon as possible to the lifting of sanctions and normalising the situation.'' — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Elections within six months rule mandatory: Centre
• No need for special court on Ayodhya: Mayawati
• Iraq agrees to unconditional weapons inspections
• `Sri Lanka peace talks frank, constructive'
• Delhi metro train makes trial run
• JPC to summon Sinha, Jaswant
• Snag in VIPs' chopper
• Lawyers drop boycott plan
• Curfew in Gujarat town
• Scribe shot at, injured

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu