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Sunday,
March 9, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Bush in final push for UN support USA sets March 17 deadline |
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Six more
Al-Samoud destroyed UNICEF struggles to aid Iraq’s under-fed
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Seoul rejects US talks offer US sanctions on
Mugabe, aides Indian fishermen held
by Pak
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Bush in final push for UN support Washington, March 8 Chief U.N. weapons inspectors delivered a report yesterday to the U.N. Security Council on efforts to rid Iraq of banned weapons of mass destruction under a resolution approved last fall. But the high-stakes meeting ended without support beyond a small core of allies for another, newly amended US-British-Spanish proposal that paves the way for an attack. “Unfortunately, it is clear that Saddam Hussein is still violating the demands of the United Nations by refusing to disarm,” mr Bush said today in his weekly radio address, reacting to the inspectors’ assessment and the day’s diplomatic manoeuvrings. Mr Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice planned to lobby allies by telephone through the weekend and up until next week’s plannedvote on the new resolution. Aides did not rule out travel for the three, and Mr Bush was said to be telling fellow leaders it was important forSecurity Council resolutions to have muscle. He yesterday conferred by phone with Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, who agreed that Saddam must be disarmed immediately, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said. Mr Bush also called President Ricardo Lagos of Chile, a wavering Security Council member. Chile had indicated yesterday it might abstain on the vote. “As a last resort, we must be willing to use military force,” mr Bush said in his radio remarks. “We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq. But if Saddam Hussein does not disarm peacefully, he will be disarmed by force.” The administration is forging ahead with the diplomatic effort, despite likely rejection. Nine votes and no vetoes are needed for success in the 15-member council. In hopes of bringing more nations on board, the U.S.-backed resolution was altered to give Saddam until March 17 to commit to total disarmament. Mr Bush, however, has received no private assurances that France, Russia or China would abstain from using their veto, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. And yesterday, only Bulgaria joined the resolution’s sponsors in speaking up for the idea of a deadline.
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USA sets March 17 deadline United Nations, March 8 However, the sponsors asserted they would put it to vote to see where each member stood even though indications are that it has slim chance of getting the requisite number of nine votes in the 15-member council. The draft states that Iraq “will have failed” to take the “final opportunity” under its 1441 Resolution unless the council finds on or before March 17 that it has demonstrated “full, unconditional, immediate and active cooperation” with its disarmament obligations. It also demands that Iraq hand over to the arms inspectors all prohibited weapons, delivery systems and support and provide all information about such arms, which it claims to have unilaterally destroyed. Rejecting the resolution, German Foreign Minister Joscheka Fischer said this is an ultimatum that immediately leads to a military action. Diplomats said the resolution could come up for vote as early as on Tuesday. US Ambassador to UN John Negroponte said Washington was telling delegates to advise their governments to be prepared for vote any time from Tuesday. France proposed a council meeting at the summit level to sort out differences on handling of the Iraqi crisis but minutes later US Secretary of State Colin Powell shot down the idea, saying the Heads of Government and State were in touch with one another and no useful purpose would be served by such meeting. Diplomats of several member-states, too, were cool to the idea, saying such a meeting should be called only to give a seal of approval to any consensus reached. Otherwise, it would become a media circus where top leaders of major powers would air their differences sending a message of disunity. The council meeting called yesterday to find a united approach to the Iraqi disarmament ended up showing that the differences had widened and that discussions in the council were futile as these would have little effect on course of events and the American decision if and when to use force. The meeting itself was held under the shadow of threat by US President George Bush on Thursday night that the USA was prepared to use force to disarm Iraq with or without UN approval. The only thing on which all agreed was that the council should send a message of unity, but then showed no signs of changing their hard positions. The atmosphere was so tense that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw went personally and repeatedly referred French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin by name while seeking to rebut the arguments put forward by him in support of his contention that arms inspectors should be given more time. Mr Straw received an applause at the end of the spirited presentation. At the end of the day, the USA still had only four firm votes, including those of Britain, Spain and Bulgaria for the revised draft. Of the six non-permanent members who are still not fully committed to one side or the other and, thus, would play a crucial role in any vote — Mexico, Guinea, Cameroon and Angola — were sitting on the fence and Pakistan and Chile, in their presentations, stressed on peaceful resolution of the issue which, some diplomats say, could mean that they might abstain. But they said much would depend on how far the USA was able to influence their capitals. Nine votes and no veto are needed for any resolution to be adopted by the 15-member council. The USA, Britain, Russia, France and China have the veto power. If the resolution is unable to get the nine votes, the permanent members opposing it — Russia, France and China — could simply abstain. The day started with Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix giving a report on Iraqi cooperation and each side seizing parts which supported its contention.
PTI |
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Six more Al-Samoud destroyed Baghdad, March 8 It would raise to 40 the number of the missiles scrapped since the operation began a week ago, as well as two combat warheads, one launcher and five engines. “The destruction of six new Al-Samoud 2 missiles started at 11.30 a m at Al-Taji,” a military complex North of Baghdad, Information Ministry director general Uday al-Tai said. About 100 Al-Samoud 2 rockets were made, and chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said yesterday that the failure to destroy any on Friday was only a “temporary break.”
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UNICEF struggles to aid Iraq’s under-fed Baghdad, March 8 With the USA on the brink of a possible invasion and most people reeling from Iraq’s last two wars and a decade of economic sanctions, Mr De Rooy said UNICEF would concentrate on supporting those most at risk. It would start handing out high-protein biscuits to underfed children next week and aimed to immunise three million against measles by the end of the month. It was also preparing emergency water supplies for the capital, Baghdad. But there is little time to tackle the legacy of years of malnutrition. A quarter of Iraq’s children under five are stunted and four per cent — or nearly 2,00,000 — are so underweight they are classified as “wasted’’. For them to reach their proper weight would take two months’ supply of the special biscuits — 1,000 tonnes of which have been distributed around the country. “We hope to start (handing these out) next week. You figure it out,’’ Mr De Rooy said of the tight timetable facing UNICEF The USA and Britain have massed tens of thousands of troops in the Gulf for a possible attack on Iraq and is expected to push next week for United Nations support to launch a war to rid Iraq of its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Relief agencies have warned that military action is almost certain to disrupt food handouts to millions of Iraqis who depend on government food rations every
month. Iraqis live under trade sanctions imposed in 1990 after Baghdad’s invasion of Kuwait. Since 1996, Iraq has been able to sell oil and buy food and medicines with a portion of the proceeds. But aid workers say the arrangement barely scratches the surface of its needs. A study last year found only a modest fall in malnutrition rates among children under five since the “Oil- for-food’’ deal began. A separate study found that the proportion of children who died before their fifth birthday soared to 13 per cent in the decade leading up to 1999. Mr De Rooy said measles and diarrhoea were major dangers if a war broke out, particularly if water and sewage works were disrupted and large numbers were forced from their homes.
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Seoul rejects US talks offer Seoul, March 8 US President George W Bush had said on Thursday that a multilateral dialogue was the best way to deal with the communist nation’s nuclear development, which he called “a regional issue.” Without mentioning Mr Bush’s comments, Pyongyang’s daily Minju Joson today attacked the same proposal mentioned earlier by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. “Through ‘multilateral talks’ the USA seeks to internationalise the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, evade its responsibility for spawning it and make its solution more difficult,” Mr Minju Jonson said in a commentary carried by Pyongyang’s official news agency, KCNA. Washington says North Korea’s nuclear programmes threaten not just American interests, but also those of Russia, China, Japan and South Korea. But the isolated North insists on direct talks with Washington, in an apparent bid to win security assurances and economic aid. “If the USA truly wants peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue, it should drop its absurd assertions and immediately opt for direct talks with the (North),” Mr Joson said.
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US sanctions on Mugabe, aides Washington, March 8 President Bush’s executive order “blocks all property and economic assets of the targeted individuals. It also prohibits US citizens or residents from engaging in any transaction or dealing with the targeted individuals,” spokesman Ari Fleischer said in a statement yesterday. The move affects “Mugabe and 76 Zimbabwean Government officials who have formulated, implemented or supported policies that have undermined Zimbabwe’s democratic institutions,” Mr Fleischer said.
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Jerusalem, March 8
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US President George W Bush is engaging in a final, intense flurry of uphill diplomacy to win U.N. backing to militarily disarm Saddam Hussein.
Chief U.N. weapons inspectors delivered a report yesterday to the U.N.
Security Council on efforts to rid Iraq of banned weapons of mass
destruction under a resolution approved last fall.
