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The Standoff with Iraq

U.N. to excavate dumps where Iraqi weapons, warheads buried

Chemical weapons destroyed in Iraq after the Gulf War

February 7, 1998
Web posted at: 9:01 p.m. EST (0201 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The United Nations will excavate sites where Iraq says it buried chemical weapons and missile warheads that once were loaded with chemical and biological agents.

The excavations may help clarify the number of warheads that cannot be accounted for. They were agreed to after a week of talks between Iraq and U.N. officials.

It is not clear how they will help prove Iraq's claims that it has destroyed all its chemical weapons, because of the volume and diversity of chemical agents with which Iraq experimented.

CNN's Peter Arnett brings us up to date on the situation in Iraq.

Doubt over Iraq's compliance by the U.N. Special Commission and the United States has helped spark the recent crisis. The dispute, if not solved diplomatically, is expected to lead to military action by the United States to force full Iraqi compliance with U.N. weapons demands.

U.S. forces watch demolition of Iraqi chemical weapons depots (Courtesy Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illness)

Iraqi officials say when additional excavation equipment arrives, the necessary work can be done on 79 warheads, of which 70 have been accounted for.

"We would excavate the remains of the other nine or very near to it so that we don't give any pretext for our enemies," said Gen. Mohammad Amir Rashid, Iraqi Minister of Oil.

Iraqis say many burial sites are scattered across the country. Rashid, mastermind of Iraq's weapons programs, said he feared some Iraqis may have tinkered with certain sites left unguarded by authorities.

"We should not expect too much result from the talks, but they were quite positive," Rashid told reporters.

Germany voices support for U.S.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Helmet Kohl told a U.S. delegation Saturday he will support any military attack against Iraq by offering the use of German air bases.

"For me it is completely clear that our air bases in Germany would be available to the Americans," Kohl said at a defense policy forum in Munich attended by U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and U.S. Sens. John Warner, R-Virginia, and John McCain, R-Arizona.

Until now, Britain has been the only major ally to fully support U.S. President Bill Clinton's warning of military strikes against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if diplomatic efforts to end the crisis fail.

Cohen welcomed Kohl's stance.

Clinton also telephoned Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Saturday to ask for his support. The question would have to be considered by the nation's Cabinet next week.

"In the course of the telephone call, he (Clinton) asked whether, in the event of a military action by the United States and others, Australia would make a contribution to that military action," Howard said in a television interview.

Also, President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair publicly warned Iraq that military action is on the horizon if the country doesn't grant full access to U.N. weapons inspectors.

The two leaders made an unusual joint radio address Saturday that promoted the U.S.-British alliance.

"On Iraq, as on so many issues, the United States and Britain speak with one voice," Clinton said.

Posuvalyuk

In Iraq, Russia's special envoy continued his talks on Saturday with the country's leadership to try to defuse the crisis. Interfax news agency in Moscow, quoting a foreign ministry source, said envoy Viktor Posuvalyuk had made "certain progress" and would remain in Baghdad at least until early next week.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz held two meeting with Posuvalyuk on Saturday and spoke to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan by telephone, the Iraqi News Agency INA reported.

A delegation of Russian deputies had to postpone a planned flight to Iraq to deliver humanitarian aid because it failed to get U.N. permission.

Combat, support aircraft deployed to Gulf

Cohen, while in Munich, signed the formal deployment order sending U.S. combat and support aircraft to the Gulf region, a Pentagon official said.

The deployment includes six F-117 stealth fighters; six B-52 bombers; one B-1B bomber; six F-16 anti-radar and electronic warfare jets; and roughly 30 other aircraft, the official said.

The United States will keep three aircraft carriers in the Gulf for only the next several days, and allow one of the huge warships to return home, Cohen said.

Pentagon officials have maintained for some time that a military force with two carriers is adequate to mount a sustained bombing campaign.

Cohen is set to begin a round of visits Sunday through the Persian Gulf region to lay out potential war plans for allies, should the crisis evolve into armed conflict.

The secretary has said his meetings in the Gulf were to allay concerns that the United States wasn't about to take serious military action. On Friday, he described the potential action as "not mild, nor meager. This is substantial."

He stops first in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and meet with some of the troops now in the area. Later in the week, he will visit Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Kuwait said late Saturday that it would call up a reserve force of some 24,000 troops to defend the country against any possible attacks by Iraq. Defense Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad issued to mobilization order in view of "current circumstances," Kuwait News Agency reported.

Correspondent Peter Arnett and Reuters contributed to this report.

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