RIYADH, July 8: The United States will inform its allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in advance about its plans to attack Iraq, a senior US General was quoted by newspapers here as saying.
Amidst apprehensions that the US is preparing to launch military strikes against Iraq to overthrow President Saddam Hussein’s government, the US air force chief, Gen John P. Jumper, has said the US would go ahead with its plans even if regional governments oppose the move and do not allow US troops the use of their facilities.
He said the US troops were capable of deployment outside the region and using other bases to attack targets inside Iraq.
“We possess the capability of deploying operation centres in different areas and using advanced information technology to send and receive data and information. But indeed we do not expect to take any measures without informing and consulting the regional states. This issue is, however, premature and I do not want to go into details now,” he stressed.
He noted that the US was maintaining a large military presence in the Gulf to protect its interests and regional allies and to maintain stability.
Jumper’s remarks coincided with reports that Washington had drawn up a plan to launch a massive strike by air, land and sea against Baghdad.
Last week discussions between the Iraqi foreign minister and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan failed to resolve differences on the return of arms inspectors to Iraq, as required by the UN security council.
Some newspaper reports here have suggested that the US is developing an airbase in Qatar. The long runway of the airbase, Al Udeid, is capable of handling the largest military transport aircraft.
In case Saudi Arabia refuses to permit the use of the Prince Sultan air base, 70kms south of Riyadh, the US could rely on this newly developed base, the reports said.
Some recent press reports also indicate that Britain has committed a division of 20,000 soldiers, made up of armoured and infantry brigades, and up to 50 combat jets and an aircraft carrier group, including frigates, destroyers and a submarine to any US military campaign against Iraq.
IRAQ MENDING FENCES: In the anticipation of an attack, Iraq is also moving fast to mend its fences with Arab neighbours.
Eversince the famous hug between Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and the Iraqi Vice president during the Arab summit in March, relations between Baghdad and Riyadh have improved considerably.
Now things are also reported to be improving on the Iraq-Kuwait front. After pledging to honour Kuwait’s integrity as an independent state during the Beirut summit, Iraq has moved another step forward in improving its relations with Kuwait.
APP adds: Russia and France called on Iraq on Monday to allow the return of UN weapons inspectors to Baghdad as a step towards having a decade-long international embargo on the country lifted.
The return of the inspectors and observance by Iraq of UN resolutions “would contribute to lifting the embargo,” Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said, flanked by his French counterpart Dominique de Villepin at a joint news conference.
“We back the efforts of the UN Secretary General,” de Villepin said, referring to UN chief Kofi Annan’s failed talks with Iraqi officials in Vienna last week.
The two days of talks broke down without an agreement by Baghdad to accept the return of UN weapons inspectors, barred from the country since they pulled out in December 1998, which is a precondition for the lifting of the embargo.
Commenting on US and British press reports that the United States plans to invade Iraq, Ivanov said he had “no information about supposed secret plans in Washington” to attack Baghdad.
“Russia’s position is that the only means of obtaining a settlement are political means,” he said.
The Russian foreign ministry earlier denounced as “absolutely inadmissible” any military action against Iraq, in a direct warning to the United States.
The US administration has repeatedly threatened to launch a military strike on Iraq to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein, which it accuses of developing weapons of mass destruction.
The New York Times reported on Friday that a top secret US military document outlines a massive, three-pronged attack on Iraq by land, sea and air with as many as 250,000 troops and hundreds of warplanes.
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