Asserting that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction, US today said that it had ‘‘solid evidence’’, and rejected Baghdad’s denials as having no credibility. US President George Bush said: ‘‘That is a question you should ask Saddam.’’Bush said: ‘‘For the sake of peace, he must disarm. The inspectors inside the country are not there to play hide and seek. They are there to verify whether or not Saddam is going to disarm.’’ Thousand-page arms declaration today, will take 10 days to read Baghdad: Iraq will give the UN a several thousand page document on Saturday which is expected to say Baghdad has no weapons of mass destruction, an assertion Washington has already rejected. Iraq says it has no such weapons programmes, and has stated that the list will describe only ‘‘dual use technology’’ that has peaceful as well as military applications. Security Council diplomats said they believed it could take up to 10 days for the document to be analysed. —Reuters What Saddam is most likely to do, is to provide thousands of documents on such peripheral issues as dual-use equipment and commercial material of potential military application.At the same time, the Bush administration has stepped up pressure on UN inspectors to lure Iraqi scientists out of Baghdad with the offer of asylum in exchange for information on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.The US has asked chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix to identify Iraqi arms scientists and spirit them away in exchange for information. Under the plan, the scientist accepting the offer could get a new identity and be allowed to settle in the US with his family, a media report said today.The latest Council resolution allows Iraqi scientists and their families being taken out the country for interviews so that they do not come under the pressure of Saddam Hussein’s regime.The Times said the arrangement under discussion in Washington and New York, the UN inspectors could identify Iraqi scientists who are believed to have knowledge of secret weapons. They would be flown out the country and US government official would debrief them and feed any useful information back to the inspectors. They would also help resettle such officials. (PTI)
