Iraq calls for converting Middle East into nuclear-free area

Iraq on Sunday called for a Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction as a prerequisite for permitting the return of UN inspectors to Iraq.

The Iraqi daily al-Thawra said in this case "if a zone from nuclear weapons is established," Iraq will be the first to cooperate with the UN inspectors to implement article 14 of UN Security Council resolution 687.

The paper said that Iraq has recently refused the report submitted by the US government to the Congress that there are indicators that Iraq has not met all disarmament obligations. The paper described the US report as "false fears out of which they seek to have back the US and Zionist spies to work in Iraq under the helmets of the UN while keeping a blind eye off the arsenals of the weapons of mass destruction owned by Israel."

UNSCOM members left Iraq in mid-December 1998 on the eve of US air strikes, and since then Baghdad has not permitted them to return.