Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said on Friday that Baghdad was apparently making an effort to cooperate with arms inspectors.
"It seems they are making an effort," Blix told reporters in Vienna. The UN said inspectors had for the first time been allowed to question an Iraqi scientist inside the country without Iraqi officials being present on Thursday evening.
"I think I'd like to get down to Baghdad and hear the results," said Blix, who along with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is due to return to Baghdad on Saturday.
"We want to see a lot more this weekened," said Blix. "Without the active cooperation by the Iraqi side it will be difficult to achieve an effective inspection.
"We want to see the disarmament of Iraq though the inspection avenue that is the alternative to the avenue of armed action," he said, noting this would "require the active cooperation from Iraq both on process on on substance."
Blix said he felt this was the opinion of both the Arab world and Europe and "I'm convinced also of Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair".
Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, while traveling to two days of meetings with his European counterparts, said "momentum is building" for the forcible disarmament of Iraq if necessary.
"This is a critical time. And needless to say anyone who looks at what's taking place can see that momentum is building with respect to the effort to get Iraq to disarm," Rumsfeld told reporters en route to Italy.
"The one thing needs to be put into better focus is the issue of time. One could make a very strong case that time is desirable if in fact Iraq were cooperating, but the idea that it takes a long time to determine if Iraq is cooperating is obviously -- it answers itself. It doesn't take a long time to determine that," he said.
The longer the United Nations gives Iraq to prove it has disarmed the closer the organization comes to irrelevancy, Rumsfeld added.
"To the extent the international community makes a decision to not give Iraq one final opportunity as they said in Resolution 1441, but to give him another final opportunity and still another final opportunity, and add to the 12 years where the community has worked through diplomatic efforts, why, it adversely affects the international community and its credibility," he said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
