Iraq vows to help U.N. weapons inspectors
(CNN) -- With events moving closer to a possible war with Iraq, here is a look at some of the latest developments around the world:
ROAD TO WAR?
• IRAQ PLEDGES COOPERATION: Iraq has issued a joint statement with top U.N. arms inspectors in Baghdad saying it will do more to help them in their task of verifying Iraq is complying with U.N. disarmament demands. Gen. Amer al-Saadi, a top adviser to President Saddam Hussein, read the joint statement at a news conference Monday with visiting inspection chiefs Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei. (Full story) (Text of statement)
• TURKEY'S ROLE: Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed Turkey's role in a possible U.S. military strike on neighboring Iraq with Turkish military and government officials Monday. The military's top general is trying to persuade NATO's only Muslim member to allow U.S. troops to use its military bases in the event of a strike on Iraq. (Full Story)
• 26,000 TROOPS DEPLOYED: Britain is sending 26,000 troops to the Persian Gulf region for potential operations in Iraq. Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told the House of Commons on Monday that the troops will be equipped with 120 Challenger tanks and 150 Warrior armored personnel carriers. Hoon said the deployment, which will take place during the next few weeks, would provide "the right group of forces for the sort of tasks that may be necessary." (Full story)
• MORE INSPECTIONS MONDAY: U.N. inspectors continued their visits to various sites in and near Baghdad, including the site of Iraq's long-range missile program, a center specializing in communicable diseases, an airfield used for agricultural projects, headquarters of an army battalion and a site linked to Saddam's elite Republican Guard north of Baghdad.
WAR OF WORDS
• "I ... personally would recommend that some provision be made so that the senior leadership in that country and their families could be provided haven in some other country, and I think that that would be a fair trade to avoid a war," U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on ABC's "This Week," when asked if the United States would be willing to offer Saddam immunity from possible war crimes prosecution. (Full Story)
• "Inspection is not a prelude, it is an alternative to war, and that is what we want to achieve," Blix said Sunday after arriving with ElBaradei in Baghdad, where they will demand Iraq demonstrate whether it has an illegal weapons program or whether it has disarmed.
• "I believe this [January 27] report actually is not a full stop of the inspection work but rather a new beginning," Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said, according to Reuters. "Now the two people in charge of the two bodies have been talking about that there is more work to do in terms of the inspections and they need more time. I think we should respect their opinion and support their work."
IMPACT
• Saudi Arabia and Iran backed a Turkish plan Sunday to hold a regional summit to discuss ways to avert a U.S.-led war on neighboring Iraq. NATO-member Turkey said Thursday it had invited the leaders of Syria, Jordan, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to Ankara this week for the talks. Syria has offered to play host to a foreign ministers meeting to help prepare for the summit. (Full Story)
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
