UK dossier a 'hotchpotch of lies' - Iraq

IRAQ: Iraq dismissed Britain's dossier listing weapons sites and said UN weapons inspectors would have unfettered access to any site they wanted to inspect.

"The UN weapons inspectors would have unfettered access and [can go] wherever they want to go," presidential adviser Mr Amir al-Saadi told a news conference.

The news conference was called in response to the UK dossier, which said Iraq could launch a weapon of mass destruction in 45 minutes.

"His allegations are long, his evidence is short," said Mr Saadi.

"His evidence is a hotchpotch of half-truths, lies, shortsighted and naive allegation which will not hold after a brief investigation by competent and independent experts in the related fields," he said.

Mr Saadi demanded Britain hand over the dossier to UN weapons inspectors to verify its contents.

"We invite Mr Blair to pass on his dossier to Unmovic (UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) for proper assessment, and soon enough the truth will come out," Mr Saadi said.

Earlier, Iraq's Culture Minister, Mr Hamed Yusif Hammadi, countered the UK charges by saying that Mr Blair "is against Iraq, so all his claims are baseless." He said: "Those claims will be challenged by [Mr Blair's] own Labour Party at the House of Commons."

Mr Blair's "allegations are part of a campaign of lies orchestrated by world Zionism," Mr Hammadi said. The aim of this campaign, Baghdad insists, is to topple President Saddam Hussein.

"All the reports presented to the UN by former weapons inspectors have shown that Iraq does not possess such weapons which were destroyed either by the teams of inspectors or by Iraq itself," Mr Hammadi added.

The Minister's statements reflect concern in Baghdad that the British dossier could be used to pressure the three uncommitted UN Security Council members - Russia, China and France - to go along with the Anglo-US demand for a tough new resolution ahead of the projected mid-October return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq. Russia agrees with the Arabs that no new resolution is needed.

Iraq, which last week agreed to readmit inspectors under existing resolutions, said it would reject fresh demands in a new Security Council resolution. The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, said yesterday that Iraq would have to comply with any new resolution which, he predicted, would mandate the use of force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

The Baghdad daily, al-Iraq, said the Security Council had the option of "rejecting America's evil and aggressive policies or becoming a war council which the US administration summons at will in order to decide to wage war on the countries and peoples of the world."

Al-Jumhuriya, another official Iraqi daily, called on Mr Annan and the international community to "thwart any US bid to pass a new Security Council resolution authorising the use of force [which is] aimed at serving the evil American agenda."

Seeking to head off such a development, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr Naji Sabri, yesterday delivered a message from President Saddam to the Egyptian President, Mr Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt, which took part in the 1991 US-led military campaign to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait, has repeatedly warned that a US attack on Iraq would destabilise the Middle East. Although Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have indicated that they may side with the US if force were mandated by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII, Egypt has yet to do so.

Additional reporting: Reuters