Baghdad rejects US draft resolution

IRAQ: Baghdad has rejected a US draft resolution requiring Iraq to comply with tough new terms for arms inspections or face military action.

Iraq's Vice-president, Mr Taha Yassin Ramadan, said his country would not accept the terms of the draft which fixes deadlines of seven days for agreement and 30 days to declare all weapons of mass destruction.

The draft declares that Iraq is in "material breach" of Security Council resolutions and puts the onus on Baghdad to comply within seven days. It also stipulates a seven-day deadline for Iraq to declare all programmes of weapons of mass destruction, with a further 23 days to open up the sites and provide all documentation to support the declaration.

UN inspectors must be given free and unfettered access to all suspect sites. The text also defines areas from which the Iraqi military would be excluded and nullifies 1998 assurances that UN teams would not spring surprise inspections on eight presidential sites.

Mr Ramadan said Iraq had agreed to resume inspections on the basis of existing resolutions "and any additional measures aimed at harming Iraq won't be accepted". The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tareq Aziz, warned that the Iraq would fight a "fierce war" if attacked and the US would sustain heavy losses.

As US aircraft bombed Basra's civilian airport yesterday, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr Naji Sabri, on a visit to Tehran, was told by his Iranian counterpart, Mr Kamal Kharazi: "It's Iraq's responsibility to prevent a conflict in the region by co-operating with the United Nations."

Before departing for Tehran, the Kuwaiti Defence Minister, Shaikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah, yesterday attempted to calm popular war jitters by saying the US will reduce its military presence in the emirate as soon as training exercises are completed. "They asked to come for training, only training," he asserted, without mentioning when the US forces would be leaving.

He said the build-up of material there was not intended for a war against Iraq. "We are not a party [to the ongoing US-Iraq confrontation] but we are prepared to deter any aggression against us," he said, in explanation of the emirate's upgraded defences, including the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries.

Today Mr Hans Blix, the chief of the UN weapons inspectors, is to meet Iraqi officials in Vienna to make arrangements for offices, transport, accommodation, escorts and landing sites for aircraft. Bahrain agreed to serve as a back-up base for the team. However, the US has declared its intention of preventing the deployment of the team without a new Security Council resolution.

Germany and Spain will replace Ireland and Norway on the council at the end of the year when Ireland's two-year term ends.