Iraq opens door, US wants more

Iraq condemned US proposals for a UN resolution on arms inspections on Wednesday, as the world stayed warily on the sidelines of a diplomati...

Iraq condemned US proposals for a UN resolution on arms inspections on Wednesday, as the world stayed warily on the sidelines of a diplomatic chess game that could end in war. Iraqi Dy PM Tareq Aziz said in Turkey the new US draft resolution, which demands that Iraq open every inch of its territory to inspectors or face attack, was ‘‘unacceptable’’.

But he assured NATO member Turkey, home to US airbases likely to be used to launch air raids against Iraq in any new war, that Baghdad’s forces would not attack Turkey itself. ‘‘No, we are not going to retaliate against anybody in the region except American aggressors,’’ he said in comments apparently tailored to isolate Washington from international sympathy.

	Saddam’s assassination or exile: US for it at all costs
WASHINGTON: The US has said it could go to any extent to achieve its aim of regime change in Iraq, including the assasination of Saddam Hussein or his exile. The US would welcome regime change in Iraq without US attack, ‘‘in whatever form it takes,’’ including assassination of Saddam by the Iraqi people or exile, White House Press Secretry Ari Fleischer said on Tuesday. He said ‘‘the cost of one bullet’’ to take out Saddam would achieve the US goal of regime change more quickly and cheaply than an American attack. (PTI) Story continues below this ad

He said a war would not bring Washington easy victory. ‘‘Iraq is strong, even if the Americans attack Iraq we will fight very effectively,’’ he said.

After talks with Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and others in Vienna, Iraq agreed on Tuesday to let arms inspectors, who left in 1998, back into Iraq under existing UN agreements. Washington was quick to reject any resumption of inspections before a new Security Council resolution is in place.

Blix said the deal did not change existing special rules on access to eight Iraqi presidential palaces — a sticking point for the US. ‘‘On the question of access, it was clarified that all sites are subject to immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access. However, the memorandum of understanding of 1998 establishes special procedures for access to eight presidential sites,’’ Blix said.

Meanwhile, Iraq still remained defiant. ‘‘To the evil ones…we clearly say that if they imagine that drums of war which they are beating…may push Iraq to concede its rights and what has been guaranteed to it by UN and Security Council resolutions, they are mistaken,’’ said a statement issued by President Saddam Hussein.

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Iraq said it would not accept any new UN resolution to cover the operations of arms inspectors on its soil and vowed it would hit back hard against any U.S. Attack on Baghdad.