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No Excuse For Quick Iraq
Strike Says UN's Annan
By Huda Majeed Saleh
12-31-2

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday there was no argument for a U.S. strike against Iraq before late January, while ordinary Iraqis held out hope that the New Year would bring no war at all.
 
Annan said Iraq was cooperating with arms inspections and he saw no need for military action until inspectors searching for suspected weapons of mass destruction report back to the U.N. Security Council by Jan. 27.
 
"I really do not see any basis for an action until then, particularly as (the inspectors) are able to carry out their work in an unimpeded manner," Annan said in an interview with Israel's Army Radio monitored in Jerusalem.
 
On the streets of Baghdad, Iraqis were hoping for more than a stay of execution.
 
"God willing, peace will prevail in Iraq in the New Year and the phantom of war will be lifted," said Samer al-Amiri, 52, sipping black tea in a cafe in the Iraqi capital.
 
The United States already has declared Baghdad in material breach of a Security Council resolution giving Iraq one last chance to disarm or face "serious consequences."
 
EIGHT SITES VISITED
 
Baghdad says it has no banned weapons and tensions over inspections were high Tuesday despite Annan's insistence they were running smoothly.
 
The U.N. arms experts swooped on at least eight suspect sites in central Iraq, and the head of an engineering facility described their conduct as provocative and annoying.
 
"They looked at personal documents and searched everything, including briefcases of the employees and drawers in an annoying way, and even notebooks of some of the ladies were looked into thoroughly," said Riyadh Khalil al-Hashimi, head of engineering and designing firm Sa'ad General Company.
 
The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) said Tuesday Iraq has invited chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix to visit Baghdad to "review cooperation" in January, before the experts report back to the Security Council.
 
Monday, the United States won approval for a new Security Council resolution, co-sponsored by Britain, aimed at preventing Iraq from importing goods which could be used in war.
 
The 15-nation council voted 13-0 to expand the list of civilian goods under sanctions. Russia and Syria abstained.
 
IRAQ COMPLAINS
 
Iraqi envoy Mohammed S. Ali said the resolution would aggravate the suffering of the Iraqi people, which could be eased only by a lifting of U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait.
 
The resolution modified a "goods review list" itemizing goods Iraq is barred from importing without U.N. approval.
 
Additions to the list range from drugs to protect Iraqi soldiers from both anthrax and poison gas to boats similar to the one used in the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen two years ago. Electronic gear that could jam global positioning systems used to guide some U.S. smart bombs will also come under review.
 
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, providing the logic for a possible reversal in his strong anti-war stance, said that force was sometimes needed against dictators.
 
"We Germans know from our own experience that sometimes only violence can stop dictators," Schroeder said in his New Year's televised address to the nation. "But we also know what bombs, destruction and losses at home mean for people."
 
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said he feared Israel might exploit a war in Iraq to escalate its own military attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
 
"The ghost of war that overshadows the Middle East represents today an open chance for the government of Israel and its occupation army to pursue its destructive war against our Palestinian people," said Arafat, speaking at a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
 
 
 
Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
 
 
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