Sabri calls on Blix, al-Baradi to be fair, accuses the US and Britain

The Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri yesterday called on the two directors of the UN inspection teams Hans Blix and Muhammad al-Barade' to be fair in their report which they submitted later in the day to the UN Security Council.

During a press conference held in Baghdad, Sabri said that Iraq has fully cooperated with the UN weapons inspectors and both Blix and al-Barade' should present facts as they are. He stressed that there are no banned activities nor weapons in his country. He expressed hope that the report of the inspectors will serve for halting the aggression the US and Britain intend to launch against Baghdad.

Sabri indicated that the UN weapon inspectors visited since their return back to Iraq in November 2002 hundreds of Iraqi sites that were impossible for them to have access to without the complete cooperation of the Iraqi government.

The Iraqi minister denied accusations addressed by the US secretary of state Colin Powell during the speech he made in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday, in which he said that Iraq had failed to meet its obligations concerning dismantling of weapons. Sabri indicated that the accusations addressed by Powell and other US officials aim at covering the real intention of Washington represented in having control of the Iraqi oil resources and protecting the American- Israeli interests.

Sabri stressed that Iraq does not have the ability to produce nuclear weapons at a time when everyone knows that Israel owns many nuclear weapons and no UN resolutions were issued to dismantle its weapons.

Sabri said that Iraq had done its best to maintain cooperation with the UN and to avoid a military attack against it, noting that the ball is now in the court of Washington and London, especially in the court of the American administration which aims at controlling the world as whole and to terrify everyone.

Sabri indicated that there is still time for diplomacy to find a solution for this issue peacefully. He stressed that Britain and the USA continue violating UN resolutions by continued air attacks against Iraqi positions.

Sabri denied any Iraqi link to international terrorism and to al-Qaida organizations. He said that Powell's accusation on such alleged ties are ridiculous because the American administration and the British government know well that Baghdad has no connection with these organizations.