U-2 flies over Iraq, no incident results
Iraq, Politics, 11/18/1997

The US Defense department and Iraqi official sources have indicated that U-2 spy planes flew over Iraq today without incident. The planes reportedly flew out of the range of Iraqi missiles. Iraq has indicated that it will shoot down these planes and indicated that flying these planes is a clear provocation by the US and the flights' sole purpose is to spy on the Iraqi military and other assets in preparation for military strikes.

This comes at time when the US is offering an olive branch to the Iraqis in the form of a better oil-for-food program that would allow the Iraqis to sell more oil and purchase a greater variety of products than what has been on a very limited product list.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has previously called the oil-for-food deal a "farce," and US ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson has indicated that the US is willing to work on improving the deal where possible. This seems to be one of the two main points the Iraqis insist on as grounds for solving the crisis, the other point being the establishment of a clear timetable to end UN weapons inspections once Iraq meets the criteria set for these inspections.

In the charges and counter-charges, chief weapons inspector Richard Butler has made claims that Iraq is probably already working on chemical and biological materials using the UN-monitored equipment that has been moved. This has shown Butler in a partisan light in the view of Iraqi officials, who commented that such statements are "silly" and "unscientific" and are only meant to incite public opinion against Iraq.

US President Bill Clinton in his efforts to find a way out of this crisis has stated that the UN weapons inspectors should go back to work, because, "The safety of the children of the world depends on it."

Clinton has said that US "diplomatic efforts should be backed by a strong military capabilities." Clinton continues to try to find international support for the US position by getting in touch with France, China, and Russia, where Aziz met today with Russian officials to win support for the Iraqi position.

In a statement by Kuwait's ambassador to the US, the ambassador indicated that the Kuwaiti position is "exactly the same" as the US position and that Kuwait wants to see a diplomatic solution to this problem.

It remains to be seen whether the last sticking point at the center of this whole crisis will be put on the negotiating table, as the Russians have suggested. That is, will the US agree to a timetable for the completion of UN inspections once Iraq is certified clean and clear.

Previous Stories:
  Iraqi crisis: between United Nations and United States   (11/17/1997)
  A solution at hand?   (11/17/1997)
  Iraqi delegation to Lebanon calls for Arab unity   (10/10/1997)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search