September 4, 2002	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Saani25,1423

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JEDDAH, Sept 3: Gulf oil monarchies on Tuesday rejected a US strike against Iraq but urged Baghdad to readmit UN weapons inspectors to ward off an attack.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states “renew their adherence to the decision of (last March’s) Arab summit in Beirut which rejected any military action against any Muslim or Arab country, including Iraq,” said a statement issued by foreign ministers of the six-nation bloc at the end of a two-day meeting in this Red Sea city.

Such action would have “consequences that would endanger security and stability in the Gulf region,” said the statement by the chief diplomats of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The (GCC ministerial) council urges Iraq to accept the return of UN inspectors in order to avert such (military) action,” the statement added, referring to US threats to attack Baghdad on grounds that it is pursuing weapons of mass destruction.

IRAQ READY TO WORK WITH UN: Iraq said on Tuesday it was ready to work with the United Nations to resolve its standoff with the US, but was also bracing for war.

If “anybody can have a magic solution so that all the issues are being dealt with together equitably, reasonably ... we are ready to cooperate with the United Nations and explain our position in a reasonable manner,” Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said.

He was speaking after a 30-minute meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the sidelines of the UN Earth Summit in Johannesburg.

Annan’s spokeswoman said in a statement later that the UN chief had sought to find a way to defuse tensions with Washington, which has accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of developing weapons of mass destruction.

The two men “touched base on the present situation regarding Iraq’s relations with the Security Council, in particular on the issue of the return of inspectors” as part of a “comprehensive solution, including the lifting of sanctions” imposed in 1990, the statement said.

Aziz later told the US network ABC News: “If the American allegations about Iraq’s having weapons of mass destruction, if that is a genuine concern, we are ready to work with the United States, with the (UN) Security Council to reach the truth, but if it is a pretext, a hoax pretext to attack Iraq, what can we do?”

He warned, however, that Baghdad was bracing for a US strike amid hawkish rhetoric from the US administration of President George W. Bush.

“We are taking the threat very seriously. It’s our responsibility, and we are preparing ourselves to defend our country,” he said.

World leaders have increasingly called on Annan to seek to resolve the crisis by persuading Iraq to resume UN weapons inspections, which were halted in 1998 before US-led bombing raids on Baghdad.

Annan is set to meet US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday, raising the possibility that a form of “shuttle diplomacy” may take place.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri also hinted in Cairo that Baghdad could readmit UN arms inspectors, despite denouncing Washington as an “administration of evil”.

A “return of inspectors is part of UN Security Council resolutions, and we call for the application of these resolutions”, Sabri said on the sidelines of an Arab League meeting in the Egyptian capital.

CHINA MUM ON VETO: China refused to say on Tuesday whether it would use its veto in the United Nations Security Council to block motions concerning US-led military action against Iraq.

The question of wielding a Chinese veto in the council was hypothetical at the moment, the foreign ministry said, while urging a diplomatic solution to the Iraq issue.

“It’s only an assumption,” spokesman Kong Quan said when asked if a US attempt to seek UN backing for an attack on Iraq would be blocked by a veto from Beijing.—AFP