Iraq would defend itself against any US plan to overthrow the regime of President Saddam Hussein, the country's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tareq ziz, said yesterday.
He was reacting to President Bush who on Monday vowed in Washington to use "all tools" at his disposal to overthrow Mr Saddam.
"It's a stated policy of this government to have regime change. And it hasn't changed. And we'll use all tools at our disposal to do so," said Mr Bush.
But Mr Aziz, speaking in Pretoria where he was attending the summit of the newly created African Union, rejected the notion that anyone other than the people of Iraq would chose their government.
"President Bush and his government did not bring the Iraqi leadership to power in Iraq, and therefore they cannot remove the leadership from this place. The people of Iraq are an independent people . . . They are capable of defending their sovereignty their dignity and integrity," he said.
Iraq, meanwhile, yesterday accused the UN's chief weapons inspector of bowing to US pressure and wrecking talks on the return of arms experts to Baghdad.
"It was very clear that America pushed the head of the inspection team, Mr Hans Blix, to obstruct discussions and hinder a joint agreement," the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr Naji Sabri, told reporters after returning from Vienna.