Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=3/17/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/SUMMIT REACT (S)

NUMBER=2-300777

BYLINE=MAURA FOGARTY

DATELINE=CAIRO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Iraq is calling Sunday's summit of U-S, British and Spanish leaders a "summit of outlaws." Maura Fogarty has more from Cairo.

TEXT: Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf says Sunday's meeting showed the three leaders do not respect international law.

President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar announced after the emergency summit they were giving the U-N Security Council one more day to agree on a new resolution requiring immediate Iraqi compliance with its earlier demands. They say Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is not cooperating in the discovery and destruction of his weapons of mass destruction, as he is required to do.

But Mr. al-Sahaf insists Baghdad is cooperating fully with U-N demands that it account for and destroy all chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. He accused the United States of spreading lies. The Iraqi Information Minister added that the summit's decision to allow just one more day for diplomacy was not only a threat to Iraq, but to the rest of the countries which oppose a war at this time. (Signed)

NEB/MF/AWP