WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD, 15 January 2003 — US President George W. Bush said yesterday that “time is running out” for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to heed a UN disarmament ultimatum as chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said his teams in Iraq had uncovered smuggled weapons-related materials, potentially strengthening the case for a US-led war on Iraq. Blix said his teams in Iraq uncovered weapons-related smuggling but it was unclear if the goods were linked to weapons of mass destruction.
“There has been a considerable amount of import in the weapons sector which clearly is smuggling, and in violation, and they are in fact large quantities,” Blix said.
In Washington, Bush said: “So far I haven’t seen any evidence that he is disarming. Time is running out on Saddam Hussein; he must disarm. I’m sick and tired of games and deception,” the US president said as he met with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Iraq has given no signs it intends to comply with a UN disarmament ultimatum, adding that Washington will not wait much longer before forcing Saddam to disarm.
Meanwhile, as the US troop buildup for war continued, world leaders expressed optimism a peaceful way to resolve the Iraq crisis could be found out.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said peace is still possible in Iraq, in North Korea and between Israel and the Palestinians.
Speaking at his first news conference of the year in New York, Annan said that in spite of the huge problems facing the world and the United Nations, he remained an optimist.
“I remain convinced that peace is possible in Iraq, in North Korea and between Israelis and Palestinians,” he said.
Germany and France also reiterated their opposition to a war on Iraq saying a new UN resolution was needed before any strike on Iraq.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called for the first time for a second UN resolution before any military action is launched against Iraq.
He said Germany, which joined the UN Security Council earlier this month, and its European partners in the 15-nation body would likely work together to try to have a second vote called. Schroeder said Germany would work “very closely together” with France — one of the five permanent members of the Security Council — on the Iraq question.
“I think that is sensible,” he told a press conference in Berlin. At the same time, he said Germany would make its opposition to any war and its refusal to participate in military action “unmistakably clear” in the UN body.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told Parliament reaffirming that another “deliberation” by the UN Security Council would be needed before any use of force against Baghdad.
“If there is going to be use of force, there will have to be a deliberation other than that for (current resolution) 1441, because the source of international law — essential for us — is at the UN and the Security Council,” he said.
In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday that Britain reserved the right to take military action against Iraq without a new UN resolution to specifically authorize it.
His comments came as the British government, which is treading a tightrope between domestic disquiet over a possible war and a desire to keep up pressure on Iraq to disarm, said it was moving military equipment to prepare for action.
In Baghdad, Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz told the BBC Arabic Service Baghdad had already come clean about arms programs and that its president would fight to the bitter end. “Saddam Hussein is a courageous leader and will stay in Iraq for a very long time and fight until the last Iraqi bullet,” Aziz said.
Meanwhile, UN arms inspectors checked out another six sites in Iraq, saying they were now getting US and British intelligence to widen their search, while Arab foreign ministers met to try to find a way to deflect a possible war. (The Independent)
