All Iraq conflict discussion in here plz

[4me2]

Blair in US for key Iraq summit


Preparations for possible war are gathering pace

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is in the US for his key summit with President George Bush on the disarmament of Iraq.
He will stay in Washington for less than 24 hours, but the visit is designed to show the world the two leaders are standing shoulder to shoulder in their determination to disarm Saddam Hussein.

Some are hoping the prime minister will act as a "restraining influence" on the president and Mr Blair has made it clear the United Nations weapons inspectors should be allowed to complete their job in Iraq.

He has also voiced his support for the idea of a second UN resolution ahead of any military action.


But on a stopover in Spain en route for the US, the prime minister said that he believed the international community would "follow through" if Saddam continued to fail to comply with UN resolutions.

And Mr Bush said on Thursday, in talks with Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi, that there were "weeks not months" left for Iraq to convince the world it was not harbouring weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile the leaders of trade unions in both the UK and US urged the two leaders on Friday not to rush into war.

In a letter, TUC general secretary John Monks and his American counterpart John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, said military action should be taken only if backed by a "firm and broad" international consensus through the UN.

Reservists called up

Mr Blair used his touchdown in Madrid for talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to appeal for just that.

"When we stand together the world is a more secure and more peaceful place," said Mr Blair amid European splits over Iraq.

His latest round of intensive diplomacy comes after it was announced 4,500 more UK reservists are to be called up ahead the possible war, making about 6,000 in total.

The UK is ultimately expected to have a military presence totalling around 30,000 personnel in the Gulf.

Mr Blair put on a firm united front with his Spanish counterpart, repeating their desire for a second UN resolution on Iraq,

But the UK premier insisted that an "unreasonable" veto should not be a bar to action.

His comments came as UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix asked for more time, but said there was no evidence of increased cooperation from Iraq.

Iraq insists it is willing to answer any questions the inspectors have.

Its Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, has also flatly denied Downing Street suggestions al-Qaeda "operatives" are being sheltered in Iraq with the regime's knowledge.

Anti-war Labour MP George Galloway told BBC One's Question Time that terror groups in London "would be a much greater danger after we have bombed and burned Iraq".

Mr Galloway is due to be joined by celebrities Jeremy Irons, Corin and Vanessa Redgrave and Bianca Jagger at an anti-war news conference on Friday.

Veteran journalist Paul Foot, of the Stop the War coalition, said that if Mr Blair took the UK to war, he would be going against the wishes of the majority of its citizens.

That seems to me an appalling situation and one which puts his own position very seriously at risk," he said.

On Thursday Mr Blair was among eight European leaders who have united to back the US stance on Iraq.


Both France and Germany - dubbed "old Europe" by the American defence secretary - are concerned that UN weapons inspectors are not going to be given enough time in Iraq.

In their newspaper article, the leaders of the UK, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Denmark said the attacks of 11 September on America "were an attack on us all".

The article was welcomed by President Bush, who voiced his appreciation for the "statement of solidarity with the United States".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2711859.stm

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Iraq tops Blair-Chirac agenda



The summit was postponed from last year

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac are in talks aimed at soothing strained relations between the two countries.
Tuesday's discussions at the upmarket resort of Le Touquet will cover a range of issues including immigration, defence and policy towards Zimbabwe.

But top of the agenda was expected to be the looming war with Iraq, on which the two leaders have sharply contrasting positions.

It also comes as the BBC has learned that senior British Army officers have been told to prepare for an occupation of Iraq lasting up to three years in the event of war.

Ministry of Defence sources also said that many UK troops being sent to Kuwait would probably be used for peacekeeping and "rearguard" duties, rather than in frontline fighting.

France remains unconvinced of the need for military action, while Mr Blair says he is willing to risk his political life on acting with the US to disarm Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction.

Second resolution

On Monday he told MPs a second UN resolution should be passed unless Iraq cooperated fully with the weapons inspectors.

But he also warned there was no way the US and Britain would back down over Iraq disarming.

He said he did not want to be remembered as someone who "did nothing" about terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Blair must woo France over Iraq, as it has a veto in the UN security council and could block a resolution authorising war against Saddam Hussein.

Among his own MPs there are plenty who oppose military action.

Asylum review

But he is determined to win over sceptics, and may be bolstered by a forthcoming US dossier claiming to expose Iraq's deliberate weapons concealment.

Downing Street on Monday published its own report detailing ways it claims Iraq has been deliberately obstructing the weapons inspectors.

Mr Blair is being accompanied to the summit by Home Secretary David Blunkett, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

It is an indication of the range and importance of others issues on the agenda.

On asylum, the ministers will review progress tackling illegal immigrants following the closure of the Sangatte refugee camp on the French coast.

An agreement on closer co-operation in certain areas of defence policy is also due.

Britain's aircraft carriers could be used in rotation with those of France, Spain and Italy in combined European humanitarian and peacekeeping missions, under a plan to be developed at the talks.

A European "capabilities" agency and a "solidarity clause", under which EU neighbours would assist each other if faced by a major terrorist attack, could also be established under the plans.

Mugabe spat

There are also differences between France and the UK over reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which turned into a major row last year when Mr Chirac snubbed Mr Blair and cancelled a previous date for their summit.

On Tuesday the Daily Telegraph claimed that Mr Blair blocked a French firm from winning the contract to build two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers as a deliberate snub to Mr Chirac.

But a Downing Street spokeswoman told BBC News Online: "The idea that the prime minister, at last week's cabinet [meeting], turned round and completely overturned a decision made by other people is complete nonsense."

Britain and France also have to find agreement over Zimbabwe.

Mr Chirac wants to invite President Robert Mugabe to a human rights summit in Paris on 19 February - the day after the end of EU sanctions that ban Zimbabwe's president from travel in Europe.

Mr Blair wants the sanctions renewed and thinks such a move would undermine European unity in a key area of foreign policy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2722435.stm

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UK troops 'prepare for Iraq occupation'


The army may "peacekeep" for several years

Senior British Army officers have been told to prepare for an occupation of Iraq lasting up to three years in the event of war, BBC News has learned.
Ministry of Defence sources also said that many UK troops being sent to Kuwait would probably be used for peacekeeping and "rearguard" duties, rather than in frontline fighting.

According to BBC defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan, many members of the armed forces think that what happens in Iraq after a war will be harder than the conflict itself.

It is thought the country would be divided into sectors, as happened in Kosovo, with the UK responsible for one of them.

Some military figures are said to be starting to grumble about the prospect of the US going in to do the fighting and then leaving the UK and other European countries to pick up the pieces.

'Revenge'

Andrew Gilligan said that a senior military figure had confirmed that the Army had been told to prepare for a "very long presence indeed in Iraq".

Many military leaders believe that a war will be short lived, with Saddam Hussein's subordinates refusing to obey orders once an invasion has started.

"Huge numbers of people have suffered under Saddam - they will want revenge," Gilligan said.

"Many disparate ethnic and religious groups in Iraq have been suppressed - they will want to claim their part of the cake - and the dominance of Saddam has been so total there's a risk of a vacuum when he goes."
Dr Isam al Khafaji, an Iraqi political scientist at Amsterdam University told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "No people on earth have moved from tyranny to democracy in a smooth fashion, so why do you expect Iraq to be an exception in this case?

"We have to expect some symbols of the regime being butchered in a way that no-one would like."


Prisoners

Officially, the MoD would only say that contingency planning was going on and it would be premature to speculate about it.
Separately, some units in 7 Armoured Brigade - the main British Army formation going to the Gulf - have told the BBC they have been asked to protect the Americans' rear during any invasion, and to deal with prisoners.

They could spend around eight months in the country on peacekeeping duties before being relieved by other British troops.

Other units, however, would be closer to the front line.

Conservative MP and former soldier Patrick Mercer said: "Everything I'm hearing is the fact that the fighting is likely to be brief - maybe vicious, I don't know.

"British forces may or may not be there in time to take part in that, but without a doubt the forces that have been warned to go to the Gulf are expecting to stay afterwards in an extremely difficult and unstable situation."


Opposition
About 31,000 British troops have already been sent to the Gulf.

These include 26,000 soldiers, drawn from 1 UK Armoured Division, 7 Armoured Brigade (The Desert Rats), 16 Air Assault Brigade, and 102 Logistics Brigade.

About 4,000 marines are being sent, from 40 and 42 Commando of 3 Commando Brigade.

Prime Minister Tony Blair told MPs on Monday there was no way the US and Britain would back down over Iraq disarming - despite opposition at home and abroad.

He said he was prepared to gamble his career on the issue, saying he did not want to be remembered as someone who "did nothing" about terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

On Tuesday he is meeting French President Jacques Chirac to try to woo his support for military intervention.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2722973.stm

[4me2]

Saddam denies links to al-Qaeda


Saddam rebuffed accusations from the US and Britain

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has denied any links with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in an interview broadcast on British television.
"If we had a relationship with al-Qaeda, and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn't be ashamed to admit it," the Iraqi leader said.

The rare interview was conducted by former British MP Tony Benn, who visited Baghdad last week, and was broadcast on Channel Four television.

The United States and Britain have accused Iraq of aiding al-Qaeda, which is widely believed to have been behind the 11 September, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The transmission of the interview, recorded on Sunday, comes the day before US Secretary of State Colin Powell is due to present to the UN what he says is evidence that Iraq is developing banned weapons of mass destruction.

There has been considerable scepticism worldwide about alleged links between the secular Saddam Hussein and the militant Islamist Osama Bin Laden and his network.

In other developments:
Kuwait says it is establishing a closed military zone in its northern area bordering Iraq
UN arms inspectors in Iraq say they have found another empty chemical warhead
In the interview, Saddam Hussein denied possessing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

"These weapons do not come in small pills that you can hide in your pocket," he said.

"These are weapons of mass destruction, and it is easy to work out if Iraq has them or not."

The US and Britain claim Iraq is hiding prohibited weapons or related documents from United Nations arms inspectors, who returned to Iraq last November.

America has warned it will forcibly disarm Iraq if Saddam Hussein does not give up his weapons.

The Iraqi leader said he did not want a confrontation, and accused America of looking for a pretext to launch an attack.

"Iraq has no interest in war," he said.

"No Iraqi official or ordinary citizens has expressed a wish to go to war," he told Mr Benn in the interview at a presidential palace in Baghdad.


Bush 'unwise'

Saddam Hussein said the US was seeking to control Iraq's oil fields and was being influenced by Israel.

"The consecutive American administrations were led to a path of hostility against the people of this region, including our own nation," he said.

"The most important factor in controlling oil is to destroy Iraq."

Alluding to US President George W Bush, Saddam Hussein said anyone who thought they could act without regard for the rest of the world was "lacking in wisdom" .

He said "Iraqis have been fulfilling their obligations" under the UN resolution on disarmament, contrary to US and British claims.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/2726347.stm

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UK and France admit Iraq differences


The two leaders were greeted by Le Touquet residents

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac have concluded talks aimed at repairing Anglo-French relations.
The two leaders emerged after their summit in the Northern French resort of Le Touquet to insist that there was a great sense of friendship between the two nations.

Mr Chirac said that both he and Mr Blair believed Iraq should be disarmed and that it should be done through the United Nations - but that differences remained on how that should be achieved.

Mr Chirac was asked if he would be prepared to use France's veto to stop a second UN resolution sanctioning war with Iraq.

He said: "France will fulfil its responsibilities as it sees fit at the appropriate time and in the light of the circumstances at that time."

He added: "I feel that war is always the worst possible solution.

"In that region above all others we don't want any more wars. We need to wait."

Common points

Mr Chirac said that having adopted a strategy of using inspectors, it was necessary to have trust that they could do their jobs.

"We need to give those inspectors the amount of time they need to carry out the work we have entrusted to them. That is my position."

Mr Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are opposed to swift military action against Iraq and are irritated by a letter from the prime minister and other EU countries supporting the US hardline stance against Saddam Hussein.

Mr Blair said: "Of course there are the differences that are familiar to people but it is important to emphasise again the two common points that the president alluded to.

"[Those are] support for the notion of disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and the belief that this is best pursued through the United Nations."

'Terrific' friendship

Tuesday's summit came as the BBC learned that senior British Army officers have been told to prepare for an occupation of Iraq lasting up to three years in the event of war.

While the discussions covered a range of issues including immigration, defence and policy towards Zimbabwe, the looming war with Iraq topped the agenda.
On Monday Mr Blair told MPs there was no way the US and Britain would back down over Iraq disarming.

He said he did not want to be remembered as someone who "did nothing" about terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

US President George W Bush has also been holding talks on Tuesday.

He had a telephone conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the two leaders agreed to co-operate on Iraq within the framework of the UN.

Asylum review

Mr Blair is determined to win over sceptics, including many within his own party, and may be bolstered by a forthcoming US dossier claiming to expose Iraq's deliberate weapons concealment.

On asylum, Home Secretary David Blunkett and his French counterpart unveiled more measures to tackle illegal immigrants following the closure of the Sangatte refugee camp on the French coast.

There were also talks on closer co-operation in certain areas of defence policy.

Britain's aircraft carriers could now be used in rotation with those of France, Spain and Italy in combined European humanitarian and peacekeeping missions.

Mugabe spat

Differences continue between France and the UK over reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which turned into a major row last year when Mr Chirac snubbed Mr Blair and cancelled a previous date for their summit.

Britain and France also have to find agreement over Zimbabwe.

Mr Chirac wants to invite President Robert Mugabe to a human rights summit in Paris on 19 February - the day after the end of EU sanctions that ban Zimbabwe's president from travel in Europe.

Mr Blair wants the sanctions renewed and thinks inviting Mr Mugabe would undermine European unity in a key area of foreign policy.

After the summit Conservative foreign affairs spokesman Michael Ancram said that the Zimbabwean people had been "betrayed".

"Mugabe is now free to enter Paris on 19th February with the acquiescence of the British government. This is shameful and exposes Blair's supposed ethical foreign policy as the myth it is."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2722435.stm

[CominAtcha]

Powell says Iraq deceiving U.N.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has shown satellite photos to the U.N. Security Council that he says are evidence of Iraqi deception on banned weapons.
The photos showed what he said were weapons munition bunkers and a decontamination vehicle which are used in the event something goes wrong in the facility.

He displayed a photo showing that before U.N. weapons inspectors arrived, the vehicle was gone and the facility cleaned up, and the inspectors found nothing.

"This sequence of events raises the worrisome suspicion that Iraq had been tipped off," Powell said.

Powell was speaking to the council on Wednesday to try to convince a doubting world that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction and that war may be needed to make sure it disarms.

Earlier he played an audiotape in which one Iraqi officer told another to make sure that no modified vehicles were present if U.N. arms inspectors visited.

"We evacuated everything. We don't have anything left," the junior officer reassured the other. He was referring to a vehicle from the al-Kindi company, which Powell said was involved in "prohibited weapons activity".

"What we have learned over the years is deeply troubling. Saddam Hussein and his regime have made no effort to disarm as required," Powell told the council.

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US demands action on Iraq

Powell spoke of Iraq's "policy of evasion"

The United States has said that Iraq is involved in "active and systematic efforts" to hide from UN weapons inspectors its efforts to produce weapons of mass destruction.
Secretary of State Colin Powell presented to the Security Council evidence of Baghdad's "evasion and deception", including tape recordings, satellite photographs and intelligence data.

Mr Powell warned a special session of the Council against any further delay in tackling he called Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear arms ambitions.

"Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction for a few more months or years is not an option," he said.

"This body places itself in danger of irrelevance if it allows Iraq to continue to defy its will without responding effectively and immediately," said Mr Powell.

The first reaction to the speech came from China, whose Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan, welcomed the evidence provided by Mr Powell.

He said it would help with UN inspectors with their work and urged the council to allow inspections to continue.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, for his part, said Mr Powell had presented the most "powerful and authoritative" case against the Iraqi regime.

Mr Straw called on the Council to "face its responsibilities" after next week's report by UN weapons inspectors.


Death threats
"I cannot tell you everything I know but what I can share with you is deeply troubling," said Mr Powell.
Mr Powell began by playing two recent tape recordings which, he said, were conversations between Iraqi military officials discussing how to block the work of UN weapons inspectors.

One man is heard telling a colleague to clear out "forbidden material", and destroy the message after it was received.

"This was part and parcel of a policy of evasion," said Mr Powell.

Mr Powell told the council that Iraqi scientists had been told by Saddam Hussein that they were not to agree to be interviewed outside Iraq, in contravention of the UN resolution.

One scientist had even been sent into hiding by the Iraqi regime, after a false death certificate was issued for him so that he could avoid being interviewed by the inspectors.

Other scientists, said Mr Powell, were threatened with death by the regime if they divulged information to the inspectors.


Photographs

Mr Powell went on to show satellite photographs which, he said, showed that evidence had been moved from military bunkers in mid-December as UN inspectors were about to visit them.

"An army of Iraqi intelligence officers" were tracking the inspectors, said the US secretary of state.

Another photograph showed lorries which, he said, were moving missiles at almost 30 sites.

"We don't know precisely what Iraq was moving," he said.

He noted that Iraq had banned US spy plane flights over its territory.

This, he said, was in direct violation of the security council's Resolution 1441.

He said the Iraqis had failed to account for any of the biological and chemical warfare materials they were known to possess as a result of earlier inspections.

The Iraqi army had been told to use nerve gas, said Mr Powell, and the order would not have been given unless the gas existed.

Mr Powell presented graphics showing mobile factories for producing biological agents - there were at least seven such facilities, he said, loaded on 18 lorries.

"How can the UN inspectors hope to find these without the Iraqis coming forward?" he asked.

Mr Powell said that Iraq was continuing efforts to produce a nuclear arsenal.

"Saddam Hussein is determined to get his hands on a nuclear bomb," he said.

He went on to discuss Iraq's alleged role in international terrorism, saying it was linked to cells in a number of European countries.

The country harboured senior members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, said the US secretary of state.

Response critical
Analysts say the reaction Mr Powell receives at the Council is likely to determine whether or not the US seeks a new resolution on disarming Iraq or embarks on military action on the basis of existing resolutions.

The US would need nine votes on the 15-member Council - and no veto from any of the four other permanent members - for passage of a new resolution specifically authorising the use of force against Iraq.

At the moment, it can count on only three votes in addition to its own, the French news agency AFP quoted unnamed diplomats as saying.

Each of the 14 Security Council members now has seven minutes to respond to Mr Powell's speech.

Iraq's Ambassador to the UN, Mohammed Al-Douri, will also be given time for a rebuttal, although Iraq is not a member of the Council.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is presiding as his country currently chairs the Council.

Germany has strongly opposed an early attack on Iraq and Mr Fischer and Mr Powell clashed when they both appeared at the UN last month.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/2729731.stm

[4me2]

UK sets Iraq deadline


Mr Straw: Iraq has made no effort to disarm

Jack Straw has thrown down the gauntlet to Saddam Hussein setting an effective deadline of 14 February for Iraq to demonstrate it is co-operating with arms inspectors.
The Foreign Secretary thanked Colin Powell for "laying bare the deceit" of Saddam Hussein shortly after the US secretary of state presented a dossier of evidence to the UN.

Mr Straw said that evidence presented to the UN by Mr Powell showed that Iraq had made no effort to disarm.

"These briefings have confirmed our worse fears that Iraq has no intention of disarming, no intention of following UN resolutions," he said.

Furthermore Mr Powell's evidence was proof that Saddam Hussein was clearly in breach of UN resolutions, he said.

"This council will have further reports from the inspectors on Friday week.

"If non-co-operation continues, this council must meet its responsibilities.

'Threats'

"Our world faces many threats, from poverty and disease to civil war and terrorism. Working through this great institution, we have the capacity to tackle these challenges together.

"But if we are to do so then the decisions we take must have a force beyond mere words."

Mr Straw was speaking shortly after it emerged that Prime Minister Tony Blair is due to meet chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed El Baradei on Thursday.

Dr Blix and Dr El Baradei will stop off in London on their way from New York to Baghdad for talks with Iraqi officials.

Conservative shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said he would be looking at the "enormous weight of very detailed evidence" produced by Mr Powell.

"What Colin Powell has done is say to Saddam Hussein, 'There is no point playing the game any more, these are the questions, these are the accusations you have to answer,'" Mr Ancram told BBC News.

Concealment?

Mr Ancram said there may not have been a smoking gun, but there was a "smouldering fire". War, however, could be avoided if Iraq disarmed and broke off its links with terrorist groups.

Earlier Mr Powell told the UN that Iraq had made no effort to disarm, directly flouting UN resolutions.

"The facts and Iraq's patterns of behaviour demonstrate that Saddam Hussein and his regime have made no effort - no effort - to disarm, as required by the international community.

"Indeed, the facts and Iraq's behaviour show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2729853.stm

[makiavelli]

[ONE GREAT BIG FAT LIE]

PORTIONS OF "LATEST" IRAQ DOSSIER ARE 12 YEARS OLD!

Spin-masters are trying to resuscitate the corpse of Bush's excuse for war in Iraq after it was learned yesterday that the supposed "up to date" intelligence report on Iraq's weapons shown to the United Nations by Colin Powell earlier this week was actually a patchwork of plagiarized student essays, some of which contained descriptions of Iraq's weapons from before the first Gulf War, 12 years ago!

It is important that this story and the links below be shared with everyone you know as this story is being ignored by the war-hungry US media.

LONDON, England -- The British government has been accused of basing its latest Iraq dossier on old material, including an article by an American post-graduate student.

From CNN News

Large chunks of the 19-page report -- highlighted by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell at the U.N. as a "fine paper ... which describes in exquisite detail Iraqi deception activities" -- contains large chunks lifted from other sources, according to several academics.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office, which posted the dossier on its Web site, said the report was "accurate" and that the government never claimed exclusive authorship.

Academics told Britain's Channel 4 news on Thursday that the "bulk" of the report was lifted from three sources, an article in the Middle East Review of International Affairs by Ibrahim al-Marashi, a research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California.

Glen Rangwala, a lecturer in politics at Cambridge University, told Channel 4 that large chunks of al-Marashi's paper had been copied to form parts of the UK dossier, entitled "Iraq: Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation."

"The British government's dossier is 19 pages long and most of pages 6 to 16 are copied directly from that document word for word, even the grammatical errors and typographical mistakes," Rangwala said.

"Many of the words and phrases I recalled from another context, so I searched around the articles I had read about Iraq's military and security organisations and realised that large sections of the government's dossier were actually copied.

Al-Marashi's article, published last September, was based on information obtained at the time of the 1991 Gulf War, Rangwala said.

"The information he was using is 12 years old and he acknowledges this in his article. The British government, when it transplants that information into its own dossier, does not make that acknowledgement.

"So it is presented as current information about Iraq, when really the information it is using is 12 years old."

A spokeswoman for No. 10 Downing Street told CNN: "This was a government briefing paper which was compiled from a number of sources including intelligence material.

"The first and third sections of the report went to the issues of Iraq's non-compliance with United Nations resolutions. This information was largely intelligence based.

"Section Two dealt with historical background on Iraq, and some of it was based on material written by Dr Ibrahim al-Marashi. In retrospect we should have acknowledged any references to material we used that had been written by Dr Ibrahim. We have learnt an important lesson.

"But this issue does not take away to any degree from the accuracy of the information in the report nor does it negate to any extent the core argument put forward that Iraq is involved in deliberate acts of deception," she said.


International affairs expert Dan Plesch of the Royal United Services Institute in London told Channel 4 that the alleged plagiarism was "scandalous."

"This document is clearly presented to the British public as the product of British intelligence and it clearly is nothing of the kind."

He said it was "dressed up as the best MI6 and our other international partners can produce on Saddam."

"The word 'scandalous' is, I think, greatly overused in our political life but it certainly applies to this."

Shadow defence secretary Bernard Jenkin of the opposition Conservative party said: "The government's reaction to the Channel 4 news report utterly fails to explain, deny or excuse the allegations made in the programme.

"This document has been cited by the prime minister and Colin Powell as the basis for a possible war. Who is responsible for such an incredible failure of judgment?

"The Channel 4 report clearly suggests that the intelligence has been embroidered from other sources. Who is the author and who gave their approval?

"We need a clear assurance that the government's published information is based on the best available sources and is not just spin."

The document claims that Iraqi agents have been hiding vital material from UN weapons inspectors under houses and mosques.

It also argues that UN inspectors are outnumbered 200 to one by Iraqi agents trying to obstruct them.

British government red-faced over plagiarized Iraqi dossier Friday, 07-Feb-2003 11:20AM Story from AFP / Andrew Gully
Copyright 2003 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LONDON, Feb 7 (AFP) - The British government admitted on Friday it had made a mistake in failing to credit a large section of its dossier on Iraq's alleged illicit weapons to work by a Californian postgraduate student.

"In retrospect, we should, to clear up any confusion, have acknowledged which bits (of the dossier) came from public sources and which bits came from other sources," British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said.

Asked whether Downing Street was embarrassed about the affair, he said: "We all have lessons to learn."

The admission followed a television report which said that large parts of the dossier were copied almost verbatim from a thesis written by a student, Ibrahim al-Marashi, and that much of the data he had used was over ten years old.

The report, published on Monday, was drawn up by the British government, Washington's chief ally in seeking to disarm Iraq by force, to help win over sceptics by outlining Baghdad's alleged efforts to hide weapons of mass destruction.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell told the UN Security Council on Wednesday the British government report was a "fine paper... which describes in exquisite detail Iraqi deception activities".

The Downing Street notice introducing the document said: "Iraq's campaign of obstruction against United Nations weapons inspectors is set out in a new report released by the government".

The report said UN weapons inspectors were out-numbered by 200-to-one by Iraqi agents trying to deceive them, and provided "up to date details" of Iraq's security organisations.

But Glen Rangwala, a lecturer in politics at Cambridge University, told Channel 4 news on Thursday evening that most of pages six to 16 of the 19-page document were copied word for word from Marashi's thesis, including its "grammatical errors and typographical mistakes".

And Marashi said his study was based largely on documents that were seized by Kurdish rebels in the north of Iraq in 1991 and documents left in Kuwait at the time by Iraqi forces retreating during the Gulf war.

"There are laws and regulations about plagiarism and so forth that you would think the UK government would abide by," Ibrahim al-Marashi, the post-graduate student on whose work the dossier was allegedly based, told BBC radio on Friday.

The row comes as Prime Minister Tony Blair attempts to convince a sceptical British public that he is right to back US President George W. Bush's aggressive stance on the Iraqi crisis.

The fact that Britain had attempted to promote a student's thesis as its own evidence of Iraq's failure to meet UN demands was met with disbelief by his critics.

"It is another example of how the government is attempting to mislead the country and parliament on the issue of a possible war with Iraq," Labour politican and Oscar-winning actress Glenda Jackson told the radio station.

"I am shocked that on such thin evidence -- a Californian postgraduate thesis -- that we should be trying to convince the British people that this is a war worth fighting," said former Labour minister Peter Kilfoyle.

On Thursday evening Blair said the British public could swing behind a war on Iraq if a second UN resolution was voted to call for one.

"If there were a second UN resolution, then I think people would be behind me. I think if there is not, then there is a lot of persuading to do," he told a televised debate broadcast by the BBC.

The cost to Britain of military action in Iraq, based on a similar length of campaign to the 1991 Gulf war and without further deployments, could be between 3.2 and 3.5 billion pounds (5.2 and 5.7 billion dollars), a report from a leading international think-tank said Friday.

But the report by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) warned that the total cost of maintaining a peacekeeping force in Iraq after any such action could reach 50 billion dollars a year.

ag/jfs


[Follow the link download the video and then tell me who's lying]

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/bushlie.html

[4me2]

UN heads for crucial Iraq talks


Weeks of inspections have reached a climax

The two men directing United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq are due to arrive in Baghdad on Saturday for a crucial assessment of Iraq's compliance.
The report that Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei take to the UN Security Council on Friday could, if negative, begin the countdown to US-led military action within weeks.

Before their arrival, three more Iraqi scientists had given lengthy private interviews to UN monitors.

On the diplomatic front, US President George W Bush has embarked on an offensive to muster the support of the Security Council's 14 other members for a new resolution sanctioning military intervention.

His Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said on Friday that 12 years of diplomatic efforts, sanctions and limited military operations had failed to make Saddam Hussein co-operate.
"The world feels a sense of momentum," he said ahead of talks in Germany to rally support among America's European allies.

The BBC's correspondent in Baghdad, Rageh Omaar, says that the two days of talks which Mr Blix and Dr ElBaradei are due to have in Iraq mark a definitive stage in the crisis.

Should their report say that Iraq is still not providing active and willing co-operation, it will, he says, effectively mean the end of the UN inspections process and the beginning of a diplomatic countdown to war.

Analysts say their report will largely determine the attitude of big powers like France, Russia and China who have hitherto cautioned against military action.


Blix warning

On Friday, the Iraqi authorities indicated they were ready to concede on a number of important issues including:


permitting inspectors the use of American U-2 spy planes

allowing inspectors to interview key Iraqi scientists in private.
Since Thursday, inspectors have been allowed to speak to a senior scientist, a missiles expert and a chemical engineer in private interviews.

But our correspondent in Baghdad says that the UN chief weapons inspector, Mr Blix, and his counterpart from the UN's nuclear watchdog, Dr ElBaradei, will require more than procedural concessions.

They will have to get new and substantial evidence from Iraq about weapons of mass destruction unaccounted for in its declaration to the Security Council.

Mr Blix warned Baghdad that inspections could only work with "active co-operation from Iraq not on process but on substance".

For his part, Dr ElBaradei said a personal meeting with Saddam would be useful to "explain to him our needs to make progress".

Cruise missiles
The White House says President Bush has launched a diplomatic effort to get a new UN Security Council resolution.

It comes days after Secretary of State Colin Powell presented the Security Council with what he said was clear evidence that Iraq was not complying with disarmament.

Mr Bush has already spoken to French President Jacques Chirac by telephone and now plans to spend the next two weeks concentrating on UN diplomacy.

The BBC's Washington correspondent, Justin Webb, says that Mr Bush will be looking for a resolution which must sanction, either implicitly or explicitly, the use of military force.

On Saturday, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is meeting military leaders of 30 nations at an annual security summit in Munich.

In other developments:


The BBC has learnt that the US navy plans to have at least 30 ships and submarines equipped with cruise missiles ready for action against Iraq - many more than in the last Gulf war

Washington has shut down its interests section in Baghdad, which has been run by Polish diplomats since the 1991 Gulf War

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US urged not to act alone


Annan spoke as chief inspectors began a key Iraq visit

The United Nations chief has made an impassioned demand for Washington to allow the UN to decide collectively whether to launch a war on Iraq.
Mr Annan said military action should only be taken when all other means of disarming Iraq had failed.

Kofi Annan's statement came as the top UN arms inspectors completed a first day of talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad.

"It was a substantial and useful discussion," said chief inspector Hans Blix, after more than four hours of meetings.

He is in Baghdad with fellow inspector Mohammed ElBaradei to press for Iraqi co-operation on disarmament ahead of a crucial report to the UN next week.

Making up minds

"War is always a human catastrophe, a course that should only be considered when all other possibilities have been exhausted," said Mr Annan in a speech at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.

"It is an issue not for any one state, but for the international community as a whole."

US President George W Bush has challenged the Security Council to "make up its mind" over how to disarm Iraq, and has threatened to act unilaterally if the UN failed to act.

The arms inspectors arrived in Baghdad on Saturday saying they would seek Iraq's "co-operation on substance", including allowing more Iraqi scientists to be interviewed in private and permitting U2 surveillance planes to fly over Iraq.

Shortly before the two men flew in from Cyprus, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that the world would know "within days or weeks" whether Iraq was complying with UN demands to disarm.

Russia, France and China have called for inspections to be given more time.

US scrutiny

In an apparent concession to a key UN demand, Baghdad has so far allowed five scientists to be questioned without the presence of Iraqi officials in the past three days.

It is unclear, however, whether all the interviewees came forward voluntarily.

Mr Blix said he would ask Iraqi officials to account for omissions in Baghdad's arms declaration presented to the Security Council last December.

Correspondents say the White House will be keeping a keen eye on events in Baghdad this weekend.

Efforts will be made to squash any suggestion that the Iraqis are moving towards co-operation, they say.

At an international security conference in Germany on Saturday, the US defence secretary warned that the world must be "prepared to use force if necessary" to disarm Iraq.

"Diplomacy has been exhausted almost," Mr Rumsfeld said.

UN divided

His comments came amid an intensifying push by the Bush administration to galvanise international support for military action.

On Friday, President Bush spoke to the presidents of France and China - countries with the power to veto a new UN resolution authorising force.

In recent days, he has also spoken to the leaders of Russia and Britain - the other two permanent Security Council members.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Mr Bush warned Chinese President Jiang Zemin that "time was of the essence in dealing with Iraq", and that "the credibility of the United Nations was at stake".

Britain - America's staunchest ally - is reportedly drafting a new UN resolution authorising force against Iraq in time for when Mr Blix and Mr ElBaradei report back.

But Pope John Paul II has called for renewed efforts to avoid a war.

"One must not resign oneself, almost as if the war were inevitable," he said.

The Pope will meet Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz next Friday, and Mr Annan the following week.

As the diplomatic tussling continued, America stepped up its preparations for war by ordering a fifth aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, to the Gulf.

Three other aircraft carriers are already there and a fourth is on its way.

The BBC has learnt that the US navy plans to have at least 30 ships and submarines equipped with cruise missiles ready for action against Iraq - many more than in the Gulf war.

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British tanks readied for Gulf


Tanks are painted in sand colours during preparations

Hundreds of British tanks and armoured personnel carriers are being loaded on to ships in Germany, ready to set sail for the Gulf on Saturday.
Around 2,900 military vehicles - including Challenger II tanks - are being despatched from Emden military base on the north coast of Germany.

These will be deployed over the next 10 days, with 10,000 army personnel also being flown out to join the equipment.

It follows the earlier deployment of 2,900 artillery vehicles and further prepares the UK armed forces for a possible war with Iraq.

The equipment is being officially being deployed on exercise, but the Ministry of Defence admits it will be used if required for action against Iraq.

A spokesman told BBC News Online on Saturday: "Should it come to it we have a potent force ready to be used."

'Substantial force'

Among the main equipment being loaded are Challenger II tanks, AS90 self-propelled 155mm artillery and Warrior armoured personnel carriers.

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Jim Bowden is spokesman for the 1st Armoured Division based in Hereford, near Hanover, which is responsible for the preparation and shipping of the military machinery.
He said: "The government has made the decision to deploy a substantial force to the Gulf.

"Their role at the moment is to move the equipment to the theatre of operations and to marry them up with the troops who'll be flown out there.

"Of course we hope for a peaceful resolution but we need to be ready if there is a war."


Vehicles prepared
During the transportation process the military vehicles undergo "desertification" treatment to prepare them for action in the conditions they may face in the Gulf.

It includes painting them in sand colours and fitting the Challenger II tanks with special filters capable of handling the sand.

The Challengers came under criticism when they broke down during the recent Operation Swift Sword exercises.

But, according to Major Alun Powell of the 7th Armoured Brigade, known as the Desert Rats, the budget restrictions have been dropped to allow all vehicles to be ready for war.

He said: "This is a totally different scenario, we do not have the budget limitations and the vehicles we are transporting today will be 100% ready for battle."

The massive loading operations at Emden involve transporting the 6,000 military vehicles from across Germany using the roads and the rail network.

Saturday's deployment provoked an anti-war demonstration by a small number of German protesters waving banners with slogans against the possible conflict in Iraq.

Student Sandra Anna-Lena Kurre, 26, from Emden said: "Now I have seen all these tanks I am more scared than before, it's not that I am just scared I am sad and angry also."

Earlier this week, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that 75 more RAF aircraft will be flying to the Gulf region as part of its preparations for a possible war with Iraq.

Some 27 helicopters and another 7,100 personnel would be going to the Gulf, bringing the UK's overall contribution to about 42,000.

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Last day for critical UN-Iraq talks


The first talks were "useful", inspectors said

The chief United Nations weapons inspectors have started a second and final day of talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad, ahead of their report to the UN Security Council on Friday.
Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei described as useful and substantial the first day of discussions - which are being seen as a last chance of avoiding conflict.

The two experts are expecting Iraq to agree to more private interviews with Iraqi scientists - one of the main sticking points between the UN and Baghdad.

The latest talks come amid continuing differences between the US and some of its European allies.

As the US calls for support for possible military action against Iraq, countries like Germany and France are insisting there is no justification for action yet.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin - whose country has a veto in the Security Council - is also expected to insist on the need for the inspectors to be given more time.

And on Saturday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned strongly against any unilateral US strike, saying military action should only be taken when all other means of disarming Iraq had failed.

"It is an issue not for any one state, but for the international community as a whole," he said.


Inspection demands

UN sources said on Saturday that the Iraqis had handed over documents and held more than four hours of talks with Mr Blix and Mr ElBaradei.

Iraqi foreign ministry sources said a fifth Iraqi scientist had been interviewed privately by inspectors.

The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Baghdad says the interview had been requested by nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

But the inspectors are also keen to question scientists outside Iraq, where they believe they will speak more freely.

Mr Blix and Mr ElBaradei also want Baghdad to introduce legislation banning the development of prohibited weapons and to allow U-2 surveillance planes to fly over Iraq.

And, according to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, Germany and France are working on a new plan to strengthen the inspections process - a plan they have not yet shared with Washington.

The Franco-German proposal reportedly includes the deployment of armed UN troops to support inspectors and the use of French reconnaissance aircraft.

But the BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington says the reports have angered the Americans, who believe they should have been informed.

However, our correspondent says that Washington's biggest problem with the proposals is that it does not believe that, at this stage, inspections can work.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a security conference in Munich: "Diplomacy has been exhausted almost."

He was challenged by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who said he was not convinced.

"I cannot go to the public and say these are the reasons [for war] because I don't believe in them," he said.

Allied air strike

While discussions continue, the US is stepping up its preparations for any war with Iraq.

The Pentagon says it will use nearly 50 civilian planes to help move troops to the Gulf.

A fifth aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, has also been ordered to the region.

On Saturday, US and British warplanes attacked what they say was an Iraqi mobile air defence facility 150 kilometres (95 miles) south-east of Baghdad.

The US said the target was a threat to coalition aircraft patrolling the air exclusion zone they have declared in southern Iraq.

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Australia PM in US for Iraq talks


Howard suffered a vote of no-confidence over Iraq

One of Washington's staunchest allies, Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, has left for Washington for further talks on Iraq.

The prime minister said he believed the world was heading towards war and said any weakness by the United Nations would be treated with contempt.

Mr Howard leaves behind in Australia a simmering debate over Iraq, as opposition to the government's policies intensify.

Australia's conservative government has committed 2,000 troops and military hardware to the US-led build-up in the Gulf - it is biggest ever combat deployment since the Vietnam War.

War 'closer'

It has been a tough week for John Howard.

After telling parliament it was time for the international community to finally deal with the menace of Saddam Hussein, he suffered an unprecedented vote of no confidence in the upper house of parliament.

The Senate censured the Prime Minister for his handling of the Iraq crisis.

Mr Howard will push for a "strong and unanimous" second United Nations resolution against Baghdad during his week-long trip overseas, but the Australian leader believes war is getting closer.

"The most responsible thing for the government to do is to hold back right until a decision has to be taken," he said.

"I think we are getting to the end-game. I don't think there's much doubt about that at all."

Fierce debate

Mr Howard will meet President Bush in Washington on Monday.

He is guaranteed a warm welcome.

Apart from Britain, Australia is the only other country to contribute to the build up of US forces in the Gulf.

But, back home, the debate over Australia's involvement has been fierce.

A prominent opposition Labor MP, Mark Latham told parliament the world could not trust the American leader.

"Bush himself is the most incompetent and dangerous President in living memory," he said.

In an unusual diplomatic move, the US Ambassador in Canberra, Tom Schieffer, weighed into the debate, clearly worried that anti-US feeling could cloud Australia's discussions on Iraq.

He said Mark Latham's comments were "very personal and emotional".

"I think there is some concern on some of the rhetoric that's been used in the last few days.

"It's not the sort of thing you couldn't read without having some concern about the relationship between the two countries," he said.

Call for unity

Australia's Labor opposition is insisting the government is wrong to back US-led action without authority from the United Nations.

Opinion polls here suggest most Australians think so too.
While not condoning the comments that labelled President Bush "dangerous and incompetent", Labor leader Simon Crean says the UN not the United States should take responsibility for disarming Iraq.

"People will make those statements and I don't think they help the debate but really they are a sideshow to the main issue," he said.

"There should be no support for unilateral action and no support for military action outside what the UN determines."

Prime Minister Howard will meet his UK counterpart Tony Blair in London next week before travelling to Jakarta, where he will discuss the prospect of war with Indonesia's President, Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Before leaving Australia, Mr Howard called for a strong, united international approach to ensure Iraq disarms.

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Nato rift deepens over Iraq


European leaders are closing ranks against war

Nato members are meeting in emergency session, after France and Belgium formally blocked a US request to provide Nato protection for Turkey in the event of a war with Iraq.
The move, which highlights the deepening divisions between Washington and some of its European allies, comes at the start of a crucial week in the Iraq crisis.

The Bush administration is also facing coordinated opposition from France and Germany to any imminent military assault on Iraq.

They have proposed reinforcing weapons inspections in Iraq and backing them with UN peacekeepers - a plan endorsed by Russia.

Both France and Russia could veto military action through the United Nations Security Council, which is due to hear the UN inspectors' key report on Iraqi compliance this Friday.
France, backed by Belgium, has argued that preparations to defend Turkey could undermine diplomatic efforts to avert a conflict in Iraq.

Top US officials said earlier that such a move would be "shameful" and "inexcusable".

The BBC's correspondent in Brussels, Stephen Sackur, says the rift between the US and what US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has called "old Europe" threatens to do lasting damage to Nato solidarity.

The increasingly poisonous relations are also being exposed by Franco-German proposals to expand weapons inspections, he says.

Washington has dismissed the plan as a "diversion".

But Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is due to hold talks in Paris with French counterpart Jacques Chirac on Monday, has thrown his weight behind it.


Signs of co-operation

After talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Mr Putin warned that a unilateral attack could lead to the suffering of millions and said he saw "no basis for the use of force at this time".

Amid the diplomatic wrangling, the two chief United Nations inspectors have given a cautiously optimistic assessment of how Iraq is meeting its obligations to disarm.

Speaking at the end of their latest visit to Baghdad, Hans Blix said there had been signs of new co-operation but no "breakthrough".

He said Iraq had promised to respond to a demand to allow flights by U-2 surveillance planes before he and his colleague, Mohamed ElBaradei, deliver their report on 14 February.

Mr Blix said he would welcome more time for the inspections to take place.


Other developments on Iraq include:


Ex-chief of Iraq's biological weapons programme, Rahib Taha, tells the BBC that Iraq never intended to use the weapons developed in 1980s
A senior Vatican envoy is sent to Baghdad on a humanitarian mission as part of the diplomatic moves being made by the Holy See to stave off war against Iraq
President George W Bush is due to meet one of his staunchest allies, Australian Prime Minister John Howard

'No grounds for war'

On the first day of his visit to France, the Russian president is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and President Jacques Chirac.

Russia's Itar-Tass news agency says the visit is aimed at boosting relations "to the level of strategic partnership".

"All those who follow the evolution of the situation in Iraq can see that France, Germany and Russia are almost completely in agreement," Mr Putin said during his brief visit to Germany on Sunday.

"At the moment, there is no basis for resorting to the use of force," he stressed.

Details of the Franco-German plan are due to be presented to the Security Council on Friday after Mr Blix and Mr ElBaradei deliver their report.

'UN protectorate'

The inspectors' report could trigger US-led military action if it proves negative.

German news magazine Der Spiegel has sketched out the main features of the peace plan being drafted by France and Germany:


A tripling of the number of inspectors now searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

The deployment of thousands of UN troops from Germany and other states in Iraq to help the inspectors carry out more thorough searches

The declaration of all of Iraq's airspace a no-fly zone to allow surveillance flights by spy planes.
Der Spiegel says that, under the plan, Iraq would, in effect, become a UN protectorate with Saddam Hussein its ruler in name only.

Decision time

The US Secretary of State has dismissed the plan as irrelevant.

"The issue is not more inspectors," Colin Powell said on US television.

"This idea of more inspectors or a no-fly zone or whatever else may be in this proposal that is being developed is a diversion, not a solution."

US President George W Bush again challenged the UN Security Council to take tough action on Iraq when he delivered a speech in West Virginia on Sunday.

"The United Nations gets to decide shortly whether or not it is going to be relevant in terms of keeping the peace - whether or not its words mean anything," he said.

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Nato tries to heal split over Iraq


Nato is facing one of the worst crises in its history

Nato ambassadors are resuming emergency talks in Brussels shortly to try to resolve a damaging dispute over when to start military preparations for a possible war against Iraq.

France, Germany and Belgium on Monday blocked Alliance plans to begin shipping defensive equipment to Turkey - the only Nato member bordering Iraq.

Washington responded with anger to the decision, accusing them of provoking a crisis and warning it is impatient for a resolution.

"I don't understand that decision. It affects the alliance in a negative way," said US President George W Bush.

'Heated argument'

The three countries opposing the move argue that sending Nato military equipment to Turkey would imply that diplomatic efforts to disarm Iraq and avert war had already failed.

In response to their veto, Turkey invoked Article IV of Nato's founding treaty.

This says Nato members will consult "when in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened".

Experts say it would take about 30 days to deploy the equipment, making time of the essence.

After two deadlocked sessions on Monday, Nato ambassadors meet again at 1000 GMT, amid what has been described as the alliance's gravest crisis in years.

Turkey will get the assistance it needs, whatever happens.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the US and the other alliance members would proceed with planning "outside of Nato if necessary".

But Nato's future as a collective body could be irreparably damaged if it cannot agree to start the military planning process at Tuesday's meeting, the BBC's Defence Correspondent Jonathan Marcus says.

Nato Secretary General George Robertson admitted the deadlock had produced "a very heated argument inside Nato" but expressed confidence that a solution would be found.

"I'm confident we'll reach agreement but I can't say when it will happen."

In other developments:


In a speech on Tuesday, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is to rebuff calls for more weapons inspections in Iraq, arguing that "even a 1,000-fold increase" in inspectors would not be sufficient in Iraq

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is to meet informally with all members of the UN Security Council to discuss UN preparations to deal with the possible humanitarian emergency which may develop in Iraq should war break out


German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Tuesday holds talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who strongly supports the American position on Iraq

Most western European nations see a United Nations mandate as crucial to winning their support for military action, according to an EOS Gallup poll

'Human shields' claim

As diplomatic wrangling continued on both sides of the Atlantic, Iraq said on Monday that it would permit U-2 surveillance planes to fly over Iraq, a key demand of the UN weapons inspectors.

However, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein later said that the US and UK should stop bombing the country's northern and southern "no-fly zones" .

President Bush dismissed the concession as merely an act to stall for time, and accused the Iraqi leader of deliberately placing his troops in civilian areas in an attempt to use Iraqis as human shields.

"[He] is positioning his military forces within civilian populations in order to shield his military and blame coalition forces for civilian casualties that he has caused," Mr Bush said.

Crucial week

Germany, France and Russia signed a declaration on Monday demanding increased inspections and a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin - currently visiting Paris - said they did not yet see the justification for war.

It is a crucial week in the crisis over Iraq. The United Nations weapons inspectors are due to deliver a key report to the Security Council on Iraqi compliance this Friday.

Their verdict could pave the way for US-led military action if it proves negative.

They have given a cautiously optimistic assessment of how Iraq is meeting its obligations to disarm.

However, Hans Blix, the chief chemical and biological weapons inspector, said the principal problem was "not the number of inspectors but rather the active co-operation of the Iraqi side".

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Iraqi missile find raises tensions


Iraq has been developing its own missiles for years

Fresh allegations that Iraq is in breach of United Nations disarmament resolutions have been levelled at Baghdad after the discovery of a missile that marginally exceeds the maximum range set by the UN.

However, it has emerged that it was Baghdad itself that informed arms inspectors about the existence of the al-Samoud II missile, which experts say has a range of more than 150 kilometres (93 miles).

The UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who has consistently echoed Washington's tough stance on Iraq, warned that the missile find could amount to a "significant breach" of UN resolutions.

But the BBC's Rageh Omaar says the fact that Iraq had come clean about the missile is bound to be used by those countries which believe a peaceful disarmament process could work, and which want the inspectors to be given more time.


'Proof of co-operation'
Russian diplomat Yury Fedotov, speaking at the UN, said that the situation surrounding the missiles "should be regarded not as Iraq's violation of its disarmament commitments, but as proof of its co-operation with the inspectors and of the fact that the inspections are effective".

Most members of the Security Council - including France, Germany and China, as well as Russia - believe inspectors need more time.

France and Germany, along with Belgium, have also incurred US wrath by vetoing Nato's plans to start preparations to help defend Iraq's neighbour Turkey in the event of war.

They fear that military moves to protect Turkey would imply that war is inevitable, and undermine efforts to secure a peaceful end to the stand-off.

An emergency meeting to discuss the matter on Thursday was postponed after Germany said any decision would have to wait until the chief weapons inspector reports to the UN on his progress with Baghdad on Friday.


'Just over the limit'

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has insisted that the missile range is within the limits set by the United Nations.
But a panel of experts summoned by UN weapons inspectors said the missile could travel up to 180km (112 miles), just over the 150km limit imposed by the UN after the Gulf War.

This would be enough to hit Kuwait, for example, but not enough to reach Israel.

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix is expected to brief the UN Security Council about the missile on Friday when he delivers a crucial report about Iraqi disarmament.


Second UN resolution

German Defence Minister Peter Struck said a decision on helping Turkey would be taken at the latest by Saturday, and "will absolutely satisfy Turkish interests".

It is unclear whether this will amount to Berlin dropping its opposition, and whether France and Belgium will also agree.
The Nato split, the worst in decades, has highlighted the major gulf between several key European states and the United States on Iraq, as well as divisions within Europe itself.

On Monday, the European Union will hold an emergency summit to try to end what is becoming a deep and damaging split among its 15 members.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is also expected to attend.

Mr Blair has already written to his EU partners urging them not to rule out the prospect of military action if it was necessary, according to EU diplomats.

Mr Blair is keen to gain a second UN resolution authorising force against Iraq, faced with rising public opposition to war at home.

His ally, President George W Bush, has made it clear that while he would welcome a second resolution, the absence of one would not stop the US going to war at the head of a "coalition of the willing".

He reiterated the US position on Thursday, speaking before cheering officers and sailors at a naval base in Florida.


Allies divided

The inspectors first learned of the Iraqi missile's range from documents handed over to Mr Blix during his visit to Baghdad last weekend.

Mr Aziz said "the main problem is that Iraqi missiles which are of a very short range don't have a guidance system, and when a missile doesn't have a guidance system it goes five, 10, 15 kilometres beyond (target)".

He insisted that "that is not very dangerous and must not be exaggerated".

He was speaking at the start of a four-day visit to Italy and the Vatican - a trip likely to embarrass Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a staunch US ally.

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Man held after airport grenade find


Passengers grounded after grenade find at Gatwick

A man is being questioned by anti-terrorism police after smuggling a live hand grenade into the UK through Gatwick Airport.
The north terminal of the Sussex airport was shut down and evacuated for five hours after the grenade was discovered in the 37-year-old Venezuelan's luggage on Thursday.

The airport was reopened at 2000 GMT as an investigation was launched to find out why the grenade was not detected in the plane's hold.

The man arrived in Britain on British Airways flight 2048 from Bogota in Columbia.

The flight stopped en route to London at Caracas in Venezuela and Barbados but it was not clear where he had boarded.

He was arrested under anti-terrorism laws and is being held at a central London police station.

"The problem did not become apparent until the man went through Customs," a BA spokesman said.

BA screens 100% of baggage before it is allowed on planes, and is investigating if the checks were performed by its own staff at Bogota or by local airport staff.

The arrest followed a security clamp-down at London's other major airport, Heathrow, which involved tanks and a military cordon.

The BBC's Margaret Gilmore said she had learned that the military operation was sparked by MI5 intelligence that a group was plotting to shoot down an aircraft.

Two men were arrested under the Terrorism Act near the airport on Thursday, but police said they were held as a "precautionary measure".

Explosives threat

The men, whose car was stopped near to the perimeter fence, were taken to Paddington Green police station in London for questioning, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

At Gatwick, hundreds of passengers were left stranded on board planes and in the terminal while the grenade was examined by explosives experts.

Among them were troops from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards who had flown in from Germany for a last weekend with loved ones before being deployed to the Gulf.

Trooper Ryan Reid, 26, who was hoping to get a connecting flight to Edinburgh, said: "It's so frustrating. We haven't got much time and we're due to head back on Tuesday."

A spokesman for the home secretary said people should not "jump to conclusions" about the Gatwick arrest.

"It is not uncommon for people in airports to be discovered with some form of weaponry. It doesn't mean they are all al-Qaeda terrorists," he said.

However, Home Secretary David Blunkett told BBC Radio Sheffield the arrests showed the need for vigilance.

"First, it reinforces that we really do have a problem because that's the other thing people have been saying - that we are making it all up and that it doesn't exist which is absolute nonsense.

"Secondly, it means the security services are on the ball and are picking these things up.

"Thirdly, over the next few days we need to have to follow these leads through."

Nimrod surveillance

There are 450 troops and about 1,700 extra police officers patrolling at Heathrow - guarding key sites and stopping vehicles under flight paths within about eight miles of the airport.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed a single Nimrod maritime surveillance aircraft has been flying over London, "to aid communications on the ground".

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Blunkett said the terror threat at Heathrow is serious but the public should be "alert, not alarmed".

The home secretary was speaking in the House of Commons after bowing to pressure from opposition parties to deliver a statement on the security operation at the world's busiest airport.

He said he made it clear last year that there would be heightened security at airports and other key transport hubs and that there were terrorists intent on taking British lives and damaging the UK.

He echoed a point made by a Downing Street spokesman that there was no need for the public to cancel holidays.

Ministers have angrily denied the exercise was a publicity stunt ahead of a war against Iraq.

The government and police said the ongoing security alert was linked to fears that al-Qaeda could use the end of the Muslim festival of Eid, which runs until Saturday, as a trigger for an attack on London.

Extra police have also been drafted in at other airports, including Manchester, Stansted, Leeds Bradford International and Jersey.

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Divided UN Council awaits Iraq report


Blix's report is set to have something for everyone

The United Nations' chief weapons inspectors are expected to tell the Security Council in a crucial progress report on Wednesday that Iraq is still not giving them full co-operation.
The briefing by Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei (expected from 1515 GMT) comes after a week of unprecedented bitter argument between Washington and key European allies over Iraq.

BBC News Online's world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says the issue now is not so much whether there will be a US-led attack on Iraq, but whether the Security Council will be so split that war will be declared without its authority.

According to diplomatic sources, Mr Blix is likely to say that there has been modest progress on matters of procedure.


But he will say there are still serious problems with Iraq's level of co-operation.

The Council voted unanimously last November to send inspectors back to Iraq to look for weapons of mass destruction but now seems split over the need to use force to ensure disarmament.

Nato remains divided over military action, after Germany, France and Belgium rejected on Monday a US request to bolster Turkey's defences on the grounds that it was a move to bring them into war with Iraq by the back door.

Huge anti-war rallies planned for this Saturday around the world, including New York and London, are set to add to the pressure.

And Iraq's deputy prime minister is due to hold talks on Friday with the Pope, who has been outspoken in his opposition to any war with Iraq.

'Final chance'

Mr ElBaradei told the Reuters news agency that Iraq still had "a chance to exonerate itself" if it began co-operating totally with UN inspectors.

The Security Council could give the inspection process additional time only if it saw "concrete progress", he told said.

Our correspondent says that the inspectors' conclusions could equally enable the US and Britain to argue that Iraq has failed to co-operate and allow France, Germany and Russia contend that there need to be more inspectors and more time.

A senior adviser to the US State Department, David Phillips, told the BBC that giving inspectors more time was not the issue.

"The only thing that makes a difference is a strategic decision by the Baghdad regime to comply with its requirements," he said. "So far that hasn't been taken."

France, Germany and Russia, who all have seats on the current, 15-member Security Council, have said the inspections should continue.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is due to attend the inspectors' briefing, has said he wants to challenge France and Germany on whether their calls for more checks are a delaying tactic to let Saddam Hussein "off the hook".

A key part of his colleague Mr Blix's report is expected to deal with details of an Iraqi missile programme.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, a strong ally of the US, has described as "serious" reports that the al-Samoud II missile has a range which exceeds UN restrictions.

'Rush to war'
US officials said on Thursday that elite Special Operations troops were already operating inside Iraq, preparing for the ground for a possible invasion.

The Arab League has accused America of planning to break both the UN Charter and international law by taking unilateral action.

"What is the imminent danger, that there must be this rush to war now?" Yahya Mahmassani, its ambassador to the UN, said in an interview for the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/2759653.stm

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Nato scrutinises compromise plan


Iraq policy has deeply divided the alliance

Nato ambassadors are considering a new Belgian proposal designed to end the impasse over the alliance's military aid to Turkey in the event of an Iraq war.
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said his country was prepared to end its veto - which alongside those of France and Germany have plunged Nato into its worst crisis since the end of the Cold War.

Mr Verhofstadt said Brussels wanted Nato to make it clear that aid to Turkey was of a defensive nature and not a first step to involve the alliance in a possible Iraq war.

He said his German and French counterparts could be persuaded to endorse the proposals.

Sunday's meeting will involve Nato's Defence Planning Committee, on which France is not represented, followed by a full meeting of all 19 Nato ambassadors.


EU foreign ministers are due to hold an emergency summit on Iraq on Monday, and diplomatic sources say that a breakthrough on the Nato deadlock could come on the fringes of that meeting.

Common ground sought

Belgium "wants to avoid above all that this decision is a first step in a build-up to war," Mr Verhofstadt told reporters on Saturday.

"It needs to be implicitly clear in this decision that it would not entail a Nato involvement in a military operation against Iraq," he said.


But there is still no clear indication of whether France and Germany would be prepared to follow the Belgian lead.

Nato held several days of inconclusive talks last week in an attempt to resolve the issue.

The US has argued that Nato was obliged under its treaty to provide military support to Turkey, the only member state which borders directly on Iraq.

But France, which has firmly opposed any precipitate military action against Iraq, told its Nato allies that it could prejudice the Security Council debate on the issue by appearing to prepare to war.

The US is still hoping that Turkey will allow at least one army division to be stationed there in the run-up to possible military action.

Ankara is due to make a decision as early as Tuesday on whether to allow its bases to be used.

A Nato commitment to help Turkey's own defences would, the Pentagon believes, help its case.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2767537.stm