- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A key
Iraqi parliamentary official recommended on Monday parliament should reject
a new U.N. resolution on disarmament and the leader of the assembly blasted
the text as "a preamble for war."
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- The two men were speaking at the start of an emergency
session of the Iraqi parliament convened by President Saddam Hussein to
debate the resolution calling on Baghdad to disarm or face possible military
action.
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- But the final decision on the resolution passed unanimously
by the U.N. Security Council last week will lie with the Revolutionary
Command Council, Iraq's highest authority which is led by Saddam.
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- Parliamentary speaker Saadoun Hammadi told reporters
during a break in the assembly's proceedings that deputies would carry
on debating the resolution on Tuesday and would vote on a motion to reject
the U.N. text and leave the final decision to Saddam.
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- "Parliament will listen to speeches of deputies
today and the session will continue tomorrow (Tuesday) morning," Hammadi
told reporters. He did not say if voting would take place on Tuesday.
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- President Bush warned Baghdad the full might of the U.S.
military would be used if it did not comply with the resolution which gives
U.N. arms inspectors sweeping new rights and Iraq 30 days to submit a detailed
list of its weapons.
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- In Baghdad, Salim al-Kubaisi, head of parliament's Arab
and international relations committee, told the assembly:
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- "The committee recommends the following: the rejection
of the Security Council resolution 1441 and not to approve it in accordance
with the opinion of our people who put confidence in their representatives."
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- He delivered his comments after Hammadi opened the session,
blasting the resolution as a violation of international law and Iraq's
sovereignty.
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- "This U.N. resolution looks for a pretext (for war)
and not for a comprehensive solution. It seeks to create crises rather
than cooperation and paves the way for aggression rather than for peace,"
he said. "It shows blatantly the ill intentions of the U.S. administration."
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- Oil prices climbed on market fears Iraq might reject
the resolution. Traders bought futures heavily when Kubaisi recommended
that parliament reject the resolution.
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- International benchmark Brent crude oil futures stood
62 cents higher to $24.20 a barrel, while U.S. light crude gained 58 cents
to $26.38.
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- JUST ONE FALSE STEP
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- The United States has warned Iraq one false step would
result in military action.
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- "I have no greater responsibility than protecting
the American people. Should military action become necessary for our own
security, I will commit the full force and might of the United States military,
and we will prevail," Bush said at a White House ceremony, marking
U.S. Veterans' Day.
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- Bush said a new regime "would bring deliverance"
for Iraq's citizens.
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- Iraq has until Friday to accept the terms of a Security
Council resolution demanding Baghdad allow U.N. arms experts unhindered
access to any site suspected of producing chemical, biological or nuclear
weapons or face "serious consequences."
-
- In a front-page editorial, the ruling Baath party newspaper
al-Thawra said the United States and its ally Britain had inserted "vague,
vicious and misleading texts that give them room for maneuver to use them
as pretext to attack."
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- Nevertheless, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa
said on Monday he thought Iraq would "cooperate positively" with
the resolution.
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- The U.S. military said American and British warplanes
bombed anti-aircraft missile sites on Sunday in the "no-fly zone"
enforced by Washington and London in southern Iraq -- the first such action
since the Friday resolution was passed.
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- Iraq did not report any Western attack but said its anti-aircraft
systems had fired at U.S. and British warplanes over the south of the country
on Saturday.
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- Disarmament inspections first started after Iraqi forces
were expelled from neighboring Kuwait by a U.S.-led coalition in the 1991
Gulf War. Inspectors withdrew in 1998 in a wrangle over access to Saddam's
palaces.
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- The resolution gives the Council a key role before any
possible attack, but does not force Washington to seek authorization for
war.
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- U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said
Bush reserved the right to use force without Security Council approval
if Iraq violated the resolution. But Washington would initially discuss
with the Council the consequences of a breach.
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- U.S. officials said Bush had approved plans for the invasion
of Iraq if it failed to comply fully with the resolution.
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- The plan, based on the lessons learned during the Afghan
conflict, calls for the quick capture of Iraqi territory to establish forward
bases that would be used to propel 200,000 or more troops deeper into the
country.
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- Russia, which with France and China fought for amendments
to an original U.S. draft resolution, said it hoped Iraq would comply,
saying it was a chance to avoid military action.
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- Arab foreign ministers endorsed the resolution on Sunday
but also called on Security Council members to ensure it could not be used
as an automatic trigger for war.
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- Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is due in Cyprus
this week where his team will have a base, before heading for Iraq, a Cyprus
government source said.
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- An advance team of about a dozen inspectors is expected
to head for Baghdad around November 25 to make spot inspections. Between
80 and 100 inspectors are due to resume their work in full by December
23.
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