Posted on 02/18/2003 1:01:09 AM PST by Int
UN inspectors in cahoots with Saddam: SCIRI official
Tehran, Feb 18, IRNA -- The report of former diplomat and chief UN
weapons inspector Hans Blix to the UN Security Council gives the
suggestion that the inspectors are in cahoots with Saddam Hussein's
regime and not in the interest of the Iraqi people, said Abdolaziz
Hakim, a leading member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic
Revolution (SCIRI)inIraq.
In an exclusive interview with `Iran News' published Tuesday,
the SCIRI officials raised the question as to why the UN weapons
inspectors did not interview top-level Iraqi officials and even
Saddam Hussein himself.
"We question the judgment of the inspectors and are highly
doubtful about their intentions. How else do the inspectors justify
meeting and interviewing only those individuals who have been
introduced by the Iraqi regime?"
He went on to say that the current situation is suggestive of the
fact that the stakes for a US-led war against Iraq are quite high.
"Even though the decision on military action has yet to be taken,
nevertheless all necessary preparations for war have been made.
With the summer season in the Iraqi desert fast approaching, the odds
are that conflict with Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad is imminent
and will transpire in the next few weeks," added the Iraqi official.
Commenting on the second report submitted by Chief UN Weapons
Inspector Hans Blix to the Security Council Friday last week, Hakim
said: "It was a very conservative report in line with the duties of
the inspectors. The diplomatic language used by Blix is somewhat
understandable considering the mandate of the UNMOVIC and the IAEA.
"The inspectors were not even in a position to interview Iraqi
dissidents and opposition figures who could have provided the
international community with irrefutable evidence and documents of
the Iraqi regime's culpability."
In response to a question as to why the SCIRI has yet to make
public the documents it claims it has on Saddam's weapons of mass
destruction (WMDs), Hakim said: "if the UN is willing to cooperate
with us on the implementation of its own resolutions we will be more
than happy to make our evidence public. However, our principal
condition is for Iraqi dissidents to be identified. Any relationship
should be reciprocal. If the UN is unwilling to cooperate with us,
then we are not in a position to unilaterally provide them with
documentation."
Hakim reiterated that the "decision to launch military strikes has
not yet been made. The "US is under a great deal of pressure from
various circles to reevaluate its strategy. However, we are not sure
whether the Americans will change their position under pressure or
not."
Regarding France and Germany's apparent desire to keep Saddam in
power, he said: "On the one hand, it is related to the billions of
dollars in contracts that the Baghdad regime has previously signed
with Paris and Berlin and, on the other hand, those two great European
powers would not be very pleased with an Iraq that has so much natural
resources and is moreover located in a geopolitical and geostrategic
region to be dominated by America."
The next leader and government of Iraq must be elected by the
people of Iraq, added the Iraqi Shiite official.
Elsewhere, he said that the post-Saddam regime in Iraq will
naturally treat countries that befriended the Iraqi dictator very
differently than those nations that were on the side of the Iraqi
people and assisted Iraq's opposition movement. However, he added,
any prospective decision must be in conformity with the national
interests of the Iraqi people.
Hakim, moreover, made it clear that even if the Baghdad regime is
not toppled, his organization will continue with its resistance.
"America's plans for Iraq are different than ours. We have our
own strategy and tactics in resisting the Baathist regime,"
He said the US and the EU differ on the future of Iraq. "The
Iraqi opposition's London Conference tried its very best come come up
with the most fair and balanced ethnic, religious and tribal
combination for a possible post-Saddam government in Iraq. Yet some
countries do not seem to back their proposals."
Hakim informed that the Iraqi opposition is to hold a second
conference on February 19-20 in the city of Erbil. The conference,
he said, has been delayed due to a number of technical, security and
political hitches but that all Iraqi opposition groups and
personalities are expected to participate.
He said all groups are now holding consultations with each other
and see no serious or substantial differences in their views,
adding that some Iraqi opposition figures are expected to meet
in Erbil in a pre-conference gathering as well.
Hakim strongly denied reports that the Iran-based Badr Corps is
cooperating with the US military. "Iran has never undertaken such an
action and will never do so. Iran will never interfere in the
affairs of the Iraqi opposition."
He said that the "Badr Corps is active in Iran, in northern Iraq
and in Iraq proper in underground cells, adding that their aim is to
pursue the long-standing desire of the Iraqi people to be free from
the tyranny of Saddam Hussein.
He disclosed that the Badr Corps is dependent on Iranian policy.
We abide by the decisions of the Iranian government."
Hakim concluded by saying that his view is that the Badr Corps
should not join the US-led coalition intending to invade Iraq but
should nonetheless be vigorously involved in any campaign in the
interest of protecting the Iraqi people, defending Iraq's territorial
integrity and other interests.
FH/LS
End
Yes. And I hear there is gambling going on in the Casino.
Regarding France and Germany's apparent desire to keep Saddam in power, he said: "On the one hand, it is related to the billions of dollars in contracts that the Baghdad regime has previously signed with Paris and Berlin and, on the other hand, those two great European powers would not be very pleased with an Iraq that has so much natural resources and is moreover located in a geopolitical and geostrategic region to be dominated by America."
The next leader and government of Iraq must be elected by the people of Iraq, added the Iraqi Shiite official.
They keep going back to the old cleaned out sites, which if you were smart you'd of left "clean" to fool your enemy into thinking you'd changed your foul ways.
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