Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said on Monday Baghdad would consider cooperating with a U.N. resolution on arms inspections if it was not just a pretext for a U.S. attack.
"If a resolution is issued which respects the U.N. charter, international law and Iraq's sovereignty, security and independence, and does not provide a cover for America's ill intentions, we will view it in a way that makes us deal with it," official Iraqi television quoted Saddam as telling visiting far-right Austrian politician Joerg Haider.
Saddam's comments came as Washington's UN ambassador, John Negroponte, prepares to return to the UN Security Council Tuesday or Wednesday with a new US proposal. The Bush administration has completed a new round of negotiations with critics of its tough stand on Iraq.
At a one-hour White House meeting, Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the planned revisions with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security assistant.
"It's time to decide. It's time to pass a resolution. It's time to get the views of the council out there. It's time to tell Iraq that it needs to comply," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. The revisions go a long way toward taking into account the views of other countries, Boucher added. He added that the "bottom line" of the U.S.-British draft under discussion for two months had been retained. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
