CNN - Albright going to Europe to discuss Iraq crisis


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S P E C I A L: The Standoff with Iraq

Albright going to Europe to discuss Iraq crisis

Russian envoy trying to defuse situation
January 27, 1998
Web posted at: 3:04 p.m. EST (2004 GMT)
In this story:

Clinton expected to address issue
Target list drawn up
Russian envoy in Baghdad
Enough biological weapons to 'blow away Tel Aviv'
Other developments
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(CNN) -- With the United States preparing for a possible military strike against Iraq, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright planned more consultations with U.S. allies. A Russian envoy arrived in Iraq on Tuesday to try to defuse the latest crisis over U.N. arms inspections.

Albright was to leave Wednesday night for Europe to meet with foreign ministers from Russia, Britain and France, and discuss the deadlock over access to inspection sites.

Senior administration officials told CNN it was also possible that Albright would travel on to the Gulf region. She would attempt to convince Arab nations opposed to -- or uncertain about -- a U.S.-led attack that such action is needed if Iraq fails to comply with U.N. resolutions.

There also were reports that Defense Secretary William Cohen would visit the region.

Clinton expected to address issue

Sources told CNN that President Clinton will make clear in Tuesday's State of the Union address that time is running short for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors.

Sources familiar with the president's speech to Congress said he will praise the inspectors, says it is unacceptable that Iraq continues to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and makes clear that military options are being considered.

Target list drawn up

Hussein will be given "a last chance to comply before he gets clobbered," The New York Times on Monday quoted an unidentified U.S. official as saying.

Washington already has assembled a powerful naval armada, including aircraft carriers, in the Gulf.

Pentagon sources say military planners have drawn up a list of targets for air strikes and missile attacks that are either linked to Iraq's chemical and biological weapons program or are of "high value" to Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi men, women and children stand in line to sign the volunteer army list

Plans reportedly call for a bombing campaign that would involve cruise missiles and stealth aircraft. It would not occur until at least mid-February and would last several days.

In addition, F-15 fighters have been equipped with new, improved versions of a "bunker-busting" bomb developed during the Persian Gulf War for deep penetration of hardened targets.

Iraq, meantime, has called for 1 million men and women to sign up for weapons training.

It was not clear, however, what weapons they will work on or how this would counter a U.S. strike with jets and missiles.

Russian envoy in Baghdad

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Posuvalyuk arrived in Baghdad Tuesday with a personal message from President Boris Yeltsin to the Iraqi leadership in a bid to find a solution to the standoff.

Russia has warned the United States against using military force against Iraq, saying it would be unacceptable and counterproductive.

"Russia always calls on Iraq to implement international resolutions, but at the same time Russia's permanent policy is that the use of force is not constructive," Posuvalyuk told Iraqi television as he entered talks with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.

But Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov said Tuesday the inspectors must be allowed to establish whether Iraq has stopped producing weapons of mass destruction.

U.N. inspection team

"We are not certain whether Iraq is producing chemical and biological weapons. We must be certain," he told European Union officials in Brussels.

Posuvalyuk was dispatched to Iraq after Yeltsin discussed the situation Monday with Primakov, whose diplomacy last fall helped to defuse a previous impasse.

The inspectors are monitoring more than 100 sites. But Iraq has sparred with them since October, barring inspectors from so-called "sensitive sites," including presidential compounds, and accusing some inspectors of being American spies.

Iraq insists it has cooperated with the inspectors and complied with U.N. resolutions. It demands an end to the U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. U.N. diplomats have said they will not consider lifting the sanctions until Iraq fully cooperates with the arms inspectors.

Enough biological weapons to 'blow away Tel Aviv'

The head of the U.N. weapons inspection commission (UNSCOM) said Iraq has enough biological weapons to "blow away Tel Aviv," The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Richard Butler also accused Iraqi officials of repeatedly delaying U.N. inspections so they could remove evidence of biological weapons like anthrax and botulin toxin and chemical weapons.

The Iraqis, Butler told the newspaper, "have never cooperated fully in the disarmament process."

House Speaker Newt Gingrich

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He also confirmed that inspectors have evidence that Iraq has loaded biological weapons onto missile warheads that could be driven around to avoid being hit by bombs.

Butler did not describe the evidence, but said Iraq had enough biological material to "blow away Tel Aviv," and that some of the missiles "were very crude, but they work."

He described one occasion when U.N. inspectors believed they were close to discovering computer hard drives that contained complete records of Iraq's program for building weapons of mass destruction.

But the Iraqis stalled for about 20 minutes, he said, replacing the hard drives while inspectors watched from a distance. When the inspectors finally examined the machines, they played only computer games.

Other developments

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain was ready to resort to force if Iraq does not cooperate with the inspectors.

"We hope that diplomatic efforts will succeed in solving the crisis, but we are not ready to rule out any alternative in this period," Blair said in an interview with the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat. "That's why we have sent the aircraft carrier Invincible to the Gulf," the prime minister said.

After a briefing from the Clinton administration, House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Monday there should be no mistake about the "American nation's commitment" to preventing Iraq from obtaining weapons of mass destruction. Republicans, he said, are "prepared to be supportive" of measures to prevent that from happening, he said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said Tuesday that Israel would not get involved in any military conflict with Iraq. "We are closely following developments in the Gulf, but want to stay outside of any conflict," Mordechai said in an interview with Israel army radio.

Around 1,000 Egyptian workers rallied in Baghdad on Tuesday in support of Hussein, hailing him as a "hero of the Arab world." An estimated 150,000 Egyptians work in Iraq, down from 2 million before the U.N. imposed sanctions.
Correspondents Peter Arnett, Steve Hurst and Jamie McIntyre contributed to this report.