- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's
parliament convenes in an emergency session on Monday to decide on a tough
new U.N. resolution calling on Baghdad to disarm or face possible military
action.
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- Iraq has until November 15 to agree to a Security Council
resolution passed unanimously on Friday demanding that Baghdad allows U.N.
arms experts unhindered access to sites suspected of producing weapons
of mass destruction or face "serious consequences."
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- The United States warned Iraq on Sunday one false step
in complying with the resolution would result in military action.
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- Iraqi parliamentary sources told Reuters the 250-seat
assembly would meet at 7:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Monday in accordance with
a decision by President Saddam Hussein.
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- "Parliament will take the necessary decision regarding
the U.N. Security Council resolution," one source said.
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- Top weapons inspectors are due to travel to Iraq on November
18 to set up communications, transport and laboratories.
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- Signaling hopes for a breakthrough, Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Maher said after an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign
ministers in Cairo on Sunday that Baghdad appeared inclined toward accepting
the new text.
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- "The indications are positive and there was a general
feeling during the meeting that the cooperation of Iraq with the inspectors
will be instrumental in avoiding any military operation," he said
when asked about Iraq's likely response.
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- Asked if ministers had called on Iraq to agree to the
U.N. terms, Maher told reporters: "The Iraqi tendency is positive
in general. That's why there was no need to make such a call."
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- "ZERO TOLERANCE" FOR IRAQ
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- In Washington, U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza
Rice said Iraq would be held to a "zero tolerance" standard on
arms inspections under the new resolution. Any breach would trigger serious
consequences, she told Fox News Sunday.
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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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- 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 any breach.
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- U.S. officials said President 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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- Saddam on Sunday ordered the Iraqi parliament to hold
an emergency meeting on the new resolution. The parliament will then refer
its decision to Iraq's highest leadership authority -- the so-called Revolutionary
Command Council led by Saddam and chaired by his top aides.
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- The 250-seat Iraqi parliament will hold closed-door consultations
on Monday morning ahead of the plenary session in the evening, another
parliamentary source said.
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- Arab foreign ministers on Sunday endorsed the toughly
worded resolution but also called on Security Council members to ensure
it could not be used as an automatic trigger for war.
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- The resolution gives inspectors sweeping new rights and
Iraq 30 days to submit a detailed list of its weapons. It also gives the
Security Council a key role before any possible attack, but does not force
Washington to seek authorization 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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