U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday the United States might not seek to oust Saddam Hussein if he abandoned his weapons of mass destruction.
"We think the Iraqi people would be a lot better off with a different leader, a different regime," Powell said. "But the principal offense here is weapons of mass destruction, and that's what this (U.N.) resolution is working on. The major issue before us is disarmament."
He said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he expects the U.N. Security Council to enact a resolution setting strong guidelines for inspection teams to be sent back into Iraq.
But, he added, "The issue right now is not even how tough an inspection regime is or isn't. The question is will Saddam and the Iraqi regime cooperate — really, really cooperate — and let the inspections do their job. "All we are interested in is getting rid of those weapons of mass destruction."
Powell stated "If the inspectors do their job, and we can satisfy the world community that they are disarmed, that's one path. If we can't satisfy the world community that they are disarmed, that takes us down another path."
On ABC's "This Week," Powell put it this way: "Either Iraq cooperates, and we get this disarmament done through peaceful means; or they do not cooperate, and we will use other means to get the job done."
Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, said the administration expects to have a resolution ready this week for Security Council members to consider. "The goal here is to disarm Saddam Hussein. And in order to do that, we are going to have to test his willingness to cooperate this time around," she said on CNN's "Late Edition." "If he is not willing to disarm, then the world is going to have to disarm him."
Amnesty
The Iraqi government declared an amnesty Sunday for all prisoners as a thank-you to the nation for reelecting President Saddam Hussein.
The statement, read on television by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, said the "full and complete and final amnesty" applied to "any Iraqi imprisoned or arrested for political or any other reasons." Those accused of murder, the statement said, would only be released if the victims' families agreed.
The amnesty was intended to thank the Iraqi people for their support of Saddam, who claimed a 100-percent `yes' vote in a presidential referendum last week, the statement said. "It's a unanimity that other nations are incapable of achieving and it is unparalleled, but it is a great truth and came from this faithful people at this time," the statement added.
Britain
Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said Britain is about to start calling up specialist medical teams from its pool of reserve troops in preparation for war with Iraq. "We've got to move on this by the end of the month to keep to the timetable," it quoted a top Ministry of Defense official as saying.
The Sunday Telegraph said a secret meeting during the week had pinpointed the need to put some 1,000 reservists on standby to be called up within two months.
The newspaper said most would be specialist staff - probably anaesthetists and surgeons. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
