Arab leaders attending the Beirut summit have closed ranks with Baghdad in the face of US threats to attack Iraq. The resolution issued by the summit on Thursday asserted the leaders' "absolute rejection of any attack against Iraq" and their commitment to the country's security and integrity. The rulers attending the Beirut meeting, which ended on Thursday, also said they "consider any such threat as a threat to the national security of all the Arab states".
This forceful wording was meant to counter Washington's threat to attack Iraq on the premise that it is manufacturing chemical and biological agents and has resumed its nuclear weapons programme, in violation of a UN Security Council ban. Aware that Arab opposition to a US military campaign against Iraq is un- likely to deter the US, the summit also asked Iraq to implement pending provisions of Council resolutions to denying the US a pretext for launching an offensive.
Iraq went along with this requirement because, over the past few months, it has moved towards an accommodation with the UN on the resumption of inspections with the object of securing a clean bill of health on the contentious issue of its weapons programmes. The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr Naji Sabri, told The Irish Times that "Iraq is working towards this result" in talks with the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, and the chief inspector, Mr Hans Blix.
The three men, who had their first encounter early this month, are set to meet again on April 18th.
Mr Sabri stated: "I hope we shall be able to set the ground rules for co-operation between the United Nations and the Iraqi government based on the desire of one party \ to implement the resolutions in a way that meets the concerns of both parties [Iraq and the UN]."
He continued: "If threats to attack Iraq are caused by certain concern over the presence of weapons of mass destruction, then they are unfounded because there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, no facilities for production of these weapons of mass destruction. And there is no intention by the Iraqi government to acquire such a thing and to use such a thing. And, the strategy of the Iraqi government is not to acquire and not to produce these sorts of weapons."
Although the UN Commission which destroyed and monitored Iraq's prohibited weaponry reported that 95 per cent had been eliminated before Baghdad's 1998 expulsion of inspection teams, the US charges that it has manufactured a fresh stock of agents. International agencies cannot confirm these charges or Iraq's denials.
