Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein voiced defiance during a military planning session on Sunday against mounting American threats to oust him from power, saying his country would be victorious in any showdown. He also attacked Washington’s diplomatic drive for a tough new United Nations resolution against Iraq, saying it was an attempt to cover up a ‘‘lie’’ about Baghdad’s weapons programme. Saddam’s nod to chemical weapons: Newsweek NEW YORK: Viewing the war with the US as a ‘‘life and death’’ campaign for his regime, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has given his commanders the authority to use chemical weapons if communications with Baghdad were cut during the war, a US report said. ‘‘We must use everything we have,’’ Hussein is quoted as telling his commanders during a meeting in August, said a report in Newsweek. Preparations for war are intensifying in the region, the report added Iran favours new UN resolution on Iraq TEHRAN: Iran, branded as part of an ‘‘axis of evil’’ by Washington, is opposed to a U.S. military attack on Iraq but has also urged its neighbour and former foe to comply with any U.N. resolution to avert a possible war. ‘‘We have been harmed by Iraq and also we can’t forget America’s enmity, so we are in a special position.We hope that no war takes place in the region. Washington should put aside its unilateral policy and respect world public opinion, but Iraq should also respect U.N. resolutions,’’ said Hamid Reza Asefi, Foreign Ministry spokesman. Iran also said that if American aircrafts violated its airspace unintentionally while attacking Iraq, it would not be considered an ‘‘an act of enmity’’. Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is due in Tehran on Wednesday as part of a four-nation West Asia tour. (Agencies) In the US, President George W. Bush, gearing up for a primetime television address on Monday to tell Americans why they should be prepared to fight, warned that the danger from Iraq was ‘‘grave and growing’’ and war might be unavoidable. Iraq accused of developing weapons of mass destruction which it denies, said it did not want war. ‘‘We did not choose the battle with the enemy, and this means we did not prepare ourselves to confront the enemy, but the enemy is preparing to attack us.and leave us slaves without identity, honour or money,’’ Saddam was quoted by the Iraqi News Agency as saying. Bush told supporters on Saturday that Saddam had to be prevented from inflicting ‘‘massive and sudden horror’’ with weapons of mass destruction. ‘‘There’s no negotiations; there’s nothing to talk about. We don’t want you to have weapons of mass destruction,’’ Bush said in a speech in the state of New Hampshire. In his weekly radio address aired on Saturday, Bush said:‘‘If.the Iraqi regime persists in its defiance, the use of force may become unavoidable.’’ Under the threat of attack, Iraq has said it will allow their turn of UN weapons inspectors who left in 1998 after years spent trying to identify and destroy nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, the latest stop in a tour of the strategic Gulf Arab region aimed at staving off any US military strike. Sabri has so far declined to speak to the media about his tour, but diplomats said he was probably asking Gulf Arab states to ban US forces from using their military facilities for any attack on Iraq. The US Fifth Fleet has its headquarters in Bahrain, which Sabri visited before going on to Oman and the UAE, while Washington is also building up a major base in Qatar. Gulf and other Arab states have indicated they will only support a military strike on Iraq with UN backing. Underlining Muslim anger with US policy toward Iraq, Malaysia on Sunday rebuked the US or its stated goal of seeking Saddam’s overthrow. ‘‘One nation cannot demand that another change its government — or else,’’ Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak made the same point on Saturday. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told BBC radio the international community’s efforts were focused on disarming Saddam, not overthrowing him. (Reuters)
