Iraq to open all sites for inspection, time is not restricted
Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Saeed al-Sahaf on Wednesday said that Iraq supports a Russian proposal providing for permitting the UN to inspect all Iraq sites.
In press statements following his meeting on Wednesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Sahaf said he hoped that diplomatic and political efforts will succeed in preventing a military confrontation.
He said the Russian initiative proposes that Iraq open all 8 Presidential sites, "And when we say the 8 sites we do not exclude a house or a garage. And that a single site might contain dozens of villas and palaces. When we say the 8 sites it means sites that exist in Iraq," al-Sahaf said.
Sahaf added that Iraq would open all these sites to a team appointed by the UN secretary-general, including experts from the UN five permanent Security Council members and the 21 states which are members in UNSCOM. They can visit and investigate the sites by all available means, from laboratory tests to the use of radar, and take their time for inspection, and then submit their report to the UN Security Council, Sahaf said.
Egypt for its part said President Hosni Mubarak, stressed Egypt's rejection of any effort to "partition Iraq" and any attempt to undermine Iraq's territorial integrity.
President Mubarak called for giving diplomatic efforts a chance in order to settle the Iraqi crisis with the US and warned against the grave consequences that would befall the region if a military strike was directed against Iraq. Mubarak also demanded that Iraq abide by international legitimacy resolutions to end the crisis.
Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdul Meguid on Wednesday met with the ambassadors of 19 Asian countries to Egypt and briefed them on developments in the Iraqi crisis in light of Arab and international contacts held by the AL to defuse this crisis.
During the meeting, Abdul Meguid stressed the Arab states' total rejection of the use of force against Iraq. He stressed the need to make a greater effort to settle the crisis peacefully and warned that the use of force will complicate matters and threaten the region's security and stability.
Today, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa held an unexpected meeting today for the second time within the past few hours with Mohammed Saeed Sahaf the Iraqi foreign minister who is currently visiting Cairo.
Diplomatic sources affirmed that this meeting lasted for half an hour, in which they focused on discussing Egypt's efforts to convince the permanent UN Security Council member states to support a resolution to this problem.
Moussa said yesterday that the draft resolution concerning the current Iraq crisis, was intended to be submitted to the UN Security Council for discussion. This draft resolution deals with cooperation between France, the Arab League and Egypt for solving the Iraqi crisis through diplomatic means.
Concerning the efforts by Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abel Meguid, Moussa said in a joint press conference after talks with his counterpart from Belarus, Ivan Antonovich, "There is a French - Russian draft in which they make a sort of coordination with the Arab League within the recent efforts of Secretary Meguid."
Moussa said, "I've talked with the French foreign minister in Paris regarding this draft, and what's suggested now is how to get out of this crisis." Moussa added that Russia and France are in communication with the US and Iraq in coordination with Egypt and the Arab League.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Cohen is in Moscow for discussion with the Russians and Duma members (congress) who are strongly opposed to US policies on Iraq, with one delegation of the Duma members currently in Iraq in a show of support.
One analyst viewed US efforts to leak stories such as the one in Today's Washington Post on a 1995 Russian-Iraqi agreement to sell fermentation equipement (that has dual use capability) as US pressure on an expected Russian draft proposal to the UN Security Council that is expected to receive wide support by the other Security Council members. The US by its actions is trying to preclude a diplomatic solution, said the analyst who wished to remain anonymous.
Meanwhile, according to US Congressional sources, a bill (Senate Res 71) supporting the US position on use of military force against Iraq is not moving forward because "the congress wants to define what the president can do and cannot do," adding that there is concern that the resolution as crafted would give the president too much authority.
Yesterday, White House spokesman Mike McCurry rejected the proposal by Iraq's deputy Prime Minister Aziz labeling it as "clearly unacceptable."
It remains unclear as to what the US position will be on the new proposed Russian-French solution, but early indications are that it will be rejected too.
The US and Britain are becoming the sole supporters of a no-compromise solution, as Kuwait has indicated that it too wants a diplomatic solution as we report today in our edition.