Iraqi missile manufacturer says UN order to destroy missiles would deprive Iraq of defense

Jerusalem Post ^ | Feb. 22, 2003 | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[yonif]

The director of a company involved in production of the Al Samoud 2 missile said Saturday that obeying an order from the United Nations to destroy the weapons would deprive Iraq of an important means of defense just as it is being threatened.

No Iraqi official has commented publicly on the order Friday from chief weapons inspector Hans Blix that Iraq hand over dozens of Al Samoud 2 missiles and components for destruction, which would begin by March 1.

An assistant to Gen. Hossam Mohamed Amin, chief Iraqi liaison officer to the UN inspectors, told The Associated Press on Saturday said he still hadn't seen the chief inspector's letter and couldn't comment.

On Saturday, a UN team of inspectors visited the Ibn al-Haithem company, which produces and assembles Al Samoud 2s.

After they left, company director Owayed Ahmed Ali said only two of the missiles had been tested above the range allowed by the United Nations.

"They want to destroy them at a time when we are threatened daily , every minute and every second," he said.

"I asked (the inspectors), 'You would destroy a defensive weapon now that we are threatened by the Americans, who might strike at any moment?"' he added. "Some said, 'You are right, but we have orders,' while others said, 'You have other means to defend yourself."'

Ali said nine inspectors visited the company on Saturday and split into three groups. They entered "workshops, assembly areas and all departments. They tagged some of the missiles that were being assembled," he said.

Mohammed Modhaffar al-Adhami, a member of Iraq's parliament, told The Associated Press on Friday that he believed Iraq would destroy the missiles if so ordered. He said Iraq wanted to avoid what he called the "aggression" threatened by the United States if Iraq fails to comply with the UN's disarmament program.

"Iraq will do the maximum in its cooperation to avoid any aggression ... even (destroying) the missiles," al-Adhami said.

Tests of the Al Samoud have determined that the weapon exceeds the 150-kilometer (93-mile) range limit set by UN resolutions adopted at the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

Iraq's vice president offered to hold a dialogue with the United States, saying in a TV interview broadcast Friday that his country was ready to negotiate if Washington ends talk of war.

Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan's interview was aired on Iraq's Al-Shabab Television, which is owned by President Saddam Hussein's son, Odai.

"We are ready for a dialogue with the American administration and ready to build economic relations," he said. "If they abandon aggression, and there is a dialogue that leads to normal relations, achieves mutual interests far away from interference in internal affairs, then we have no objection."

The offer, which appeared aimed largely at the Iraqi public, is unlikely to attract a favorable response in Washington, which insists that Saddam first give up his alleged weapons of mass destruction. Saddam insists he already has.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Colin Powell made an offer of his own Friday, declaring that if the Iraqi leader cooperates with UN disarmament demands, "or if he leaves the country tomorrow, there will be no war."

"People are hoping that war can be avoided," Powell said. "I hope it can be avoided. But the one who has the power in his hands to decide whether there will be a war or peace is Saddam Hussein."

With the threat of war hanging over the country, the United Nations reduced its humanitarian staff in Iraq to simplify an evacuation in case of military action. About 450 of the 900 foreigners working for UN aid programs in Iraq have left in the last two weeks, a UN official in Baghdad said on condition of anonymity.

The voluntary reduction in staff had no impact on the 104 UN weapons inspectors and 115 support staff working independently under a UN Security Council mandate to verify that Iraq has rid itself of all weapons of mass destruction. In New York, UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said no new staff was being assigned to Iraq but no general evacuation order had been issued.

The United States and Britain accuse Iraq of developing weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles, despite UN bans on both, and have massed nearly 200,000 troops in the region to reinforce their threats of war. Iraq denies holding such weapons.

In addition to Ibn al-Haitham, the inspectors headed to eight other sites Saturday including the 7th of April factory, 30 kilometers (20 miles) east of Baghdad, which contributes to some Iraqi missile programs with the development of fuses, the Information Ministry said.

Other sites visited included a medical college in the northern city of Mosul, a facility for heavy engineering and a dairy factory, the ministry said.

On Friday, nuclear inspectors interviewed an engineer and a magnet specialist, both members of Iraq's former gas centrifuge program, inspectors spokesman Hiro Ueki said.

Biological and chemical inspectors also have been trying to interview key Iraqi scientists, but have not conducted an interview since Feb. 7 because of a dispute over whether the scientists can tape the interviews.

[jimtorr]

"I asked (the inspectors), 'You would destroy a defensive weapon now that we are threatened by the Americans, who might strike at any moment?"'

Well, duh!!! Those missiles are part of why you feel threatened!

[PsyOp]

Bio-Chemical Weapons & Saddam: A History.