Iraq's "answer" to Blix UN Report.............

[EndGame]

• Thu Jan 30,12:13 AM ET
  
  
  By Bernie Woodall
  
  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -
  
  The Iraqi ambassador distributed a seven-page paper to U.N. Security Council members that contradicted arguments from chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, who on Monday sharply criticized Iraq for failing to account for past chemical, biological and ballistic weapons programs.
  
  
  "This report by Blix does give President Bush a uniform for war. A military uniform," Aldouri said.
  
  
  In the main, the Iraqi document contended that for all the unanswered questions Blix cited, he had not yet found solid evidence of prohibited weapons or programs to develop them.
  
  
  "What remains are not programs but questions about the past programs," it said. "Iraq presented its evidence. It is up to (the inspectors) to find counter-evidence and not play hide-and-seek with Iraq."
  
  
  U-2 OVERFLIGHTS
  
  
  Aldouri, in the paper, said Iraq had dropped a condition that the United Nations (news - web sites) install special radar systems at Iraqi airports near Mosul in the north and Basra in the south before U-2 reconnaissance planes could enter the U.S.-British no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq..
  
  
  In turn, he said the United Nations agreed to notify Iraq when such spy planes, loaned to inspectors by the United States, entered the zones.
  
  
  But he said that guaranteeing the safety of U-2 aircraft was difficult because of daily confrontations in the zones with the American and British fighter planes.
  
  
  On specific weapons issues, Aldouri's document:
  
  
  -- denied that an Air force document showed Iraq had underestimated by 6,500 the number of poison gas bombs left over from its war with Iran. He said documentary evidence had been submitted to U.N. inspectors years ago and any errors in the new document were only numerical.
  
  
  -- denied the dozen 122 mm chemical rocket warheads found by inspectors recently were in a storage bunker and said they did not contain any proscribed materials. Blix on Wednesday agreed but said hat Iraq should have accounted for thousands of such warheads in its declaration. Aldouri said Iraq was still attempting to search for them and would give inspectors data as soon as it becomes available.
  
  
  -- denied Iraq had withheld technical information on the consumption of SCUD missiles during the 1980's and 1990's. Aldouri said Iraq had given documents to inspectors years ago, which had the numbers listed on them and dropped the issue.
  
  
  On biological weapons, Aldouri said that Iraq had made a small error in accounting for about 3,500 pounds of "bacterial growth media" used to nourish anthrax and other agents. He said Iraq's 12,000-page arms declaration of Dec. 7 contradicted papers submitted to the United Nations in 1999 and would be explained in a new letter outlining this and several other small errors as soon as possible.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Pretty much as expected.