Miguel
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Huge quantities of anthrax found
BAGHDAD:
Iraq yesterday announced that excavations had turned up significant traces of anthrax and the deadly nerve agent VX as it stepped up disarmament activities, saying it was doing all it could to avert a US-led war.
At the same time the US-British alliance against Iraq grappled with military and diplomatic setbacks and Turkey's ruling party, stunned by parliament's refusal to allow US troops to deploy on Turkish soil, considered calling a new vote.
Iraqi technicians destro-yed six more banned Al-Samoud 2 missiles and experts met to discuss means to verify Baghdad's claims that it has destroyed its biological and chemical weapons.
Excavations at the Al-Aziziya air base southwest of Baghdad had uncovered fragments of nearly all 157 bombs filled with tonnes of toxic agents that Iraq insists it destroyed unilaterally in 1991, Iraqi presidential adviser Amer Al Saadi announced.
He said 1.5 tonnes of VX still to be accounted for "was unilaterally destroyed" and was being discussed with UN experts.
"So as you can see, there is pro-active co-operation on the Iraqi side," said Saadi.
But he said the destruction of the banned Al-Samoud 2 missiles would stop if the US decides to wage war against Iraq unilaterally.
"My task, my only task (is) to remove all excuses for waging war ... If war today takes place, it is not because Iraq did not do all it should regarding disarmament."
Meanwhile, Turkey's ruling party said it was considering a new parliamentary ballot on the deployment of US troops in the country, a day after lawmakers voted narrowly to deprive US forces of a military platform for a possible invasion of Iraq from the north.
"This issue is being evaluated by the party leadership and the government," Justice and Development Party chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
The setback forced the Pentagon to look hard at alternatives to invading Iraq from Turkey, though a senior US official told the Washington Post the administration would await the upshot of the deliberations in Ankara before deciding whether to move ahead immediately with "Plan B".
Britain, Spain and the US sponsored a new UN resolution declaring Iraq in non-compliance with earlier UN demands that it disarm, which would in effect authorise the use of force. A counter-proposal by France, Germany and Russia calls for more inspections.
A vote on the resolution was expected after chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix presents his latest report to the UN Security Council on Friday.
On a visit to Algiers, French President Jacques Chirac insisted the work of UN weapons inspectors in the country should continue.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov lobbied for "an exclusively peaceful solution in Iraq" in telephone calls to Security Council members .
l Overthrowing Saddam might give the US more clout in the Middle East and beyond, but it would not necessarily guarantee a safer, more stable Iraq over the longer term, the Royal Institute of International Affairs said yesterday.
In a report, "Iraq: The Regional Fallout," the London-based think-tank explored three scenarios for Iraq if war breaks out - a quick US military victory and occupation, a coup d'etat against Saddam, and a Vietnam-style protracted military conflict.
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Romans 9:11-24
Our Eschatology may vary even our Ecclesiology may be disputed among us but our Soteriology most assume a singularity and exclusivity which in biblical term is known as Quote; "The Narrow Way" and Quote!
Posts: 2792 | From: Stockton,Ca | Registered: Jun 2002
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