24 January 2003
White House: Iraq Must Allow Private Interviews with Scientists
(Saddam Hussein's refusal "evidence he has something to hide") (790) By Wendy S. Ross Washington File White House Correspondent Washington -- Iraq's refusal to permit its scientists to be interviewed in private by United Nations inspectors is "unacceptable" to President Bush, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters January 24. Iraq "has an obligation to comply" with U.N. Resolution 1441, adopted unanimously by the U.N. Security Council last November, Fleischer said. "This is not a matter for negotiation; this is not a matter for debate. Saddam Hussein has no choice. His refusal is further evidence that Iraq has something to hide." Resolution 1441 includes a requirement that Saddam Hussein make scientists available for unfettered interviews. "To protect the peace, Iraq must allow and encourage its scientists to participate in private interviews, and it must do so without delay and without debate," Fleischer said. Iraqi claims that they have tried to get their scientists to agree to such interviews is "laughable." "Saddam Hussein has called the inspectors spies," Fleischer pointed out, and that sends "a very powerful message to his scientists, 'don't meet with them, because if you meet with spies, you know the history of what's happened to people who defy my will.'" Asked if this defiance is a cause for war, Fleischer responded that "if the president reaches the point where these accumulations of events lead up to the conclusion that war is the only way to protect the peace, the president will say that. He has not reached that point yet. "But clearly, when you look at the behavior of Saddam Hussein and when you look at the statements that have come from the inspectors themselves, it is impossible to reach the conclusion that Saddam Hussein is cooperating. He is not. And he is not cooperating because he is hiding, hiding his weapons of mass destruction." Saddam Hussein is also defying the United Nations by refusing to allow U-2 flights -- "per U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441," Fleischer said, and this is also not acceptable to Bush. Asked if the Bush administration is prepared to allow more time for the U.N. inspections to continue before deciding on military force against the Saddam Hussein regime, Fleischer said President Bush "has not put a definitive timetable" on this. The inspectors "clearly are still carrying out their mission to the best of their ability. They are working on the time they have, but time is running out," Fleischer said. "The real issue is, is Saddam Hussein making the end of the line come even closer by his unacceptable behavior." On Monday January 27, chief United Nations weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei are to brief the U.N. Security Council on the results of the weapons inspections in Iraq after two months. That is "an important date," Fleischer said. "We want to hear what they have to say." Fleischer said the key ingredient the world should look for in their report "is whether Iraq is complying. Absent Iraq's full compliance, the way South Africa did, the world can have no confidence Saddam Hussein has got rid of the VX gas, the sarin gas, the botulin, the anthrax, the mustard gas that the United Nations reported that he had in his possession at the end of the 1990s. Absent cooperation, absent proof that he's destroyed them, the world can only make one conclusion, and that is that Saddam Hussein is hiding these very weapons." Asked about the views of France and Germany about possible military action, Fleischer acknowledged that there are divisions among European allies. "The president respects those nations... but Europe is not a monolith. European governments represent many different points of view... The president is confident that, if the call is made, that Europe will answer the call," he said. Bush is consulting closely with world leaders on Iraq, he said, and will continue to do so. Bush "looks at this as a matter of the importance of consultation, respecting those who differ with him on this issue and building a wide coalition -- and it will be wide -- of those who see it his way and agree. And make no mistake, he will listen, he will consult, but he will lead." Asked to preview Bush's State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress the evening of January 28, Fleischer said it will include a focus on homeland and national security, as well as a focus on the U.S. economy and creating jobs for the American people; on making America a more caring, compassionate place; and on the importance of providing health care for the American people. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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