West rattles sabre at Saddam
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Your support makes all the difference.The Government stepped up its sabre-rattling at Saddam Hussein, ordering the aircraft carrier Invincible to the Gulf. But it is unclear whether the US or Britain really have an intention of delivering on their threats. Anthony Bevins and Patrick Cockburn report on the latest standoff between Iraq and the UN Security council.
The Ministry of Defence said the decision to move the carrier from the Mediterranean followed recent Iraqi attempts to block the work of the UN special commission, sent in to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction. George Robertson, Secretary of State for Defence, said: "Saddam's continued obstruction of UN inspectors is a matter of serious concern. We remain determined to see that the authority of the UN and the inter- national community is upheld."
A US-led team of arms inspectors left Baghdad yesterday, easing the confrontation with Iraq, which had accused its leader of being a spy. UN officials in Baghdad insisted they had planned to leave anyway and their departure was not the result of Iraqi pressure. Scott Ritter, the inspector accused of espionage, said: "We will be back," as he and 15 other team members left Baghdad for an air base 40 miles away. They were to fly to Bahrain and then to New York.
Iraq had barred the team from carrying out inspections since Monday. Meanwhile, Richard Butler, the chief of UN inspections, is to visit Baghdad to demand full access to all sites.
President Bill Clinton is waiting to see the results of Mr Butler's visit. He said he expected solid support in the UN and praised a Security Council statement this week that deplored the blocking of the US-led team.
The UN Security Council ordered the destruction of Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes as a condition for ending the 1991 Gulf War. UN officials report progress in eliminating the nuclear and chemical programmes but suspect Iraq is holding back considerable information on biological weaponry. Iraq says the inspectors are simply being used as an excuse to maintain sanctions against Iraq. Despite a facade of unity at the Security Council and British backing, the US appears to be making no progress in winning broad support for action to punish Iraq. Three of the five permanent members of the Security Council - Russia, China and France - want sanctions to be eased and Iraq to be given hope of them being lifted.
"Our first priority is to pursue all possible diplomatic avenues to persuade Iraq of the folly of its repeated efforts to thwart Unscom, and to secure its full and unreserved compliance with Security Council resolutions," said Mr Robertson. "Saddam's track record clearly demonstrates that he only shows respect for diplomacy when it is backed by military strength and readiness."
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