BAGHDAD/NEW YORK, 1 January 2003 — Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, asserted last night that he saw no justification for a military onslaught against Iraq — at least until the chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix submits a first full report to the Security Council at the end of January.

The remarks, coming on the symbolic night of New Year’s Eve, were a blunt warning to Britain and the United States that they will need clear evidence of clandestine weapons programs in Iraq to win wider support from other nations for any military campaign against Saddam Hussein. Annan also stated that weapons inspectors in Iraq were working without interference. “They may give an interim report before Jan. 27 and I really do not see any basis for an action until then, particularly as they are able to carry out their work in an unimpeded manner.”

In Crawford, Texas, US President George W. Bush said the United States is not sure whether or not Iraq has nuclear arms although the country had tried to develop such a program in the past. “We don’t know whether he has a nuclear weapon,” Bush told reporters here, noting, however that Saddam Hussein had been “close” to obtaining one in the past.

Meanwhile, UN arms experts swooped on at least eight suspect sites in central Iraq yesterday, pushing ahead despite the new year. Among the sites visited, witnesses said a team from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) drove to a military base in Fallujah, northwest of Baghdad. They said the facility is used to train officers in chemical warfare. The official Iraqi news agency said the government has invited chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix to hold talks in Baghdad in January.

Iraq also urged the UN Security Council yesterday to intervene to force the United States to halt its “terrorist attacks” in so-called no-fly zones over the north and south of the country as British or US warplanes bombed civilian installations in three provinces of southern Iraq.

The aircraft hit targets in the provinces of Misan, Dhi Qar and Wasat, before “taking flight under Iraqi anti-aircraft fire”, an Iraqi official said.

Also yesterday, Iraq vowed to face up to the United States in the New Year and warned the country would become a cemetery for any invading forces.

“We welcome the New Year with the ambition of seeing an Arab and Muslim unity forged which could face up to the unjust ones,” President Saddam Hussein’s deputy, Ezzat Ibrahim, said in reference to the Americans. “The resistance of our people has laid bare the tyrants of the American Zionist administration,” Ibrahim said in a New Year message to the president.

In Ankara, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer insisted on a peaceful resolution to the crisis over Iraq and said it was preparing for a diplomatic drive with missions to Baghdad and other regional countries.

Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters he would soon send a high-level delegation to Baghdad to push for “a settlement without a war,” Anatolia news agency reported. Gul also said he personally would embark on a tour of regional countries, which officials have earlier said would include Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria. (The Independent)