- UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)
- Iraq reluctantly accepted on Wednesday a tough new U.N. resolution that
gives Baghdad one last chance to disarm and paves the way for arms inspectors
to return to the country after a four-year absence.
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- Faced with a Friday deadline, Iraqi Foreign Minister
Naji Sabri surprised diplomats by submitting a letter of acceptance to
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan two days early.
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- The nine-page letter castigated the United States and
Britain as liars and denied Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction. It
also accused other members of the U.N. Security Council, who approved the
resolution in a 15-0 vote last Friday, of succumbing to American pressure.
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- But Sabri nevertheless wrote, "We hereby inform
you that we will deal with resolution 1441, despite its bad contents."
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- Iraq, whose parliament had met to reject the resolution,
was urged to say "yes" by Russia and Gulf Arab nations.
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- Relieved that war was not immediate, Iraqis welcomed
the acceptance letter. Typical was Abu Zaidoun, a Baghdad street vendor,
who said, "I am happy that our leader has accepted the resolution.
The Americans will not leave us alone, but at least they will not attack
us now."
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- While the current president of the Security Council,
Yishan Zhang of China said the 15-member body welcomed "the correct
decision" by Iraq, the White House said Baghdad had done what was
expected.
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- "We've heard this before from Saddam Hussein and
the Iraqi regime. Now we need to see it by Saddam Hussein's actions. The
onus continues to be on Saddam Hussein. This is his choice," White
House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
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- President Bush again warned President Saddam Hussein
he had to disarm or the United States would do it for him. Speaking before
the letter arrived, Bush said, "If he chooses not to disarm, we will
disarm him. That should be clear to Saddam Hussein and everybody else."
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- An advance party of U.N. technicians is scheduled to
arrive in Baghdad on Monday to prepare for inspections, not expected for
another week or two. The group will be accompanied by chief U.N. weapons
inspector Hans Blix, and his counterpart from the International Atomic
Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei.
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- Inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998, the eve of
a U.S.-British bombing campaign, saying Iraq was obstruction the work of
the U.N. arms experts.
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- Iraq's letter was delivered to Annan by its U.N. ambassador
Mohamed Aldouri. The resolution had given Iraq one week, until Nov. 15,
to accept the document.
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- "LIES AND MANIPULATION"
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- Sabri, in the letter, said, "The lies and manipulations
of the American administration and the British government will be exposed,
while the world will see how truthful and adequate the Iraqis are in what
they say and do."
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- He said he hoped the truth would be revealed and Iraq
could "drive away the cawing of the crows of evil that daily raid
its land, kill Iraqis and destroy their property by their bombs."
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- Sabri, in the letter, again said Iraq was not developing
weapons of mass destruction "whether nuclear, chemical or biological
as claimed by evil people."
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- The next step for Iraq is to submit a "full, accurate
and complete" declaration within 30 days, by Dec. 8, of all its programs
to develop and deliver dangerous weapons as well as civilian materials
that could have military applications.
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- Sabri also stressed that the Security Council had a duty
to lift sanctions against Iraq, first imposed when Baghdad's troops invaded
Kuwait in August 1990.
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- And he noted the 1991 cease-fire resolution 687 called
for the Middle East region to be free of weapons of mass destruction, saying
this provision should be applied to Israel, the "Zionist entity."
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- Russia and Arab nations had urged Iraq to accept the
resolution despite misgivings.
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- "The language of the resolution is rather harsh,
so the emotions it can stir in Iraqi society are understandable,"
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov told a news conference on
Wednesday. But he stressed that the resolution "does not include a
clause on the automatic use of force."
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- Gulf Arab states neighboring Iraq also called on Baghdad
"to abide so as not to give a chance to any excuses that might lead
to an increase in the suffering of the Iraqi people."
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- Syria, which disappointed Baghdad by voting in favor
of the resolution has said it would not join any U.S.-led coalition that
might attack Baghdad
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- "Any strike on Iraq outside the framework of the
United Nations, even with the formation of an international alliance or
coalition under the leadership of the United States, we will absolutely
not be a part of," Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara told reporters
in Beirut.
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