Excite News [spacer.gif] News Home Top News Video Business Technology Entertainment Sports World Odd [spacer.gif] [spacer.gif] [spacer.gif] [spacer.gif] AP o Reuters Iraq Seeks to Expand UN Talks Beyond Inspectors Email this story March 21, 2002 1:26 pm EST By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Seeking to broaden talks on weapons inspectors, Iraq angered Washington on Thursday by asking the United Nations to answer questions about U.S. threats to topple President Saddam Hussein. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan released to the 15-member Security Council about 20 questions he received from Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri when they met on March 7 to talk about the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to his country, according to documents obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. The queries ranged from asking whether U.S. threats against the Iraqi government were a breach of international law to whether U.S. "spies" would serve on inspection teams. Iraq also asked how long inspectors would stay and if Baghdad would be compensated for damage inflicted by U.S and British bombings to enforce a flight exclusion zone. Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, has told council members it could take his teams less than a year -- providing progress was made in fulfilling key disarmament tasks. Annan put the questions into categories and asked the Security Council members for a response by April 10. He plans to meet Sabri again before the end of April. Iraq's questions did not indicate Baghdad would reject the return of the inspectors. But diplomats said it was doubtful Sabri next month would give a "yes" or "no" to the question of inspectors returning to Iraq. Instead he would probably send any replies to his queries back to Baghdad for analysis, they said. The U.N. inspectors left on the eve of a U.S.-British air strike in December 1998, meant to punish Baghdad for not cooperating with the arms experts. They have been barred from returning since then. But U.S. and British envoys were expected to insist that Annan not reply to any queries that could not be answered by Hans Blix, the chief U.N. arms inspector. A spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, Robert Wood, said the questions were an attempt "to portray Iraq as a victim" and distract U.N. attention away from Baghdad's non-compliance. He said the council should "not entangle itself" in trying to answer the questions. "Iraq has an obligation to permit full inspections that can demonstrate the end of Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction programs. That is where the council should focus," Wood said. The queries also have the potential of splitting the 15-nation Security Council, particularly if members decide to take a position on U.S. threats of action against Saddam, which numerous countries oppose at this time. Sabri also asked if "threats to invade Iraq and to change the national government by force violate Security Council resolutions (and) rules of international law." He asked whether it was possible to normalize relations between the Security Council and Baghdad "when calls are made for invading Iraq and overthrowing its national government by force." And Iraq wanted to know if elimination of the U.S.-imposed flight-exclusion zones over northern and southern Iraq could be "guaranteed" and whether Baghdad would be compensated for the "destruction of its economic, educational and other infrastructure" caused by sanctions and violations of Iraqi sovereignty. Sabri also asked if there were any limits on the powers Blix would have and how inspectors from the United States and Britain could "fulfill a neutral international mandate." Blix, who attended the March 7 talks with Annan and Sabri, has said inspectors would be fired if they worked for a government and that no one nationality would be excluded. Articles From Reuters