January 1, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 27, 1423

BAGHDAD, Dec 31: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday there was no argument for a US strike against Iraq before late January, while ordinary Iraqis held out hope that the New Year would bring no war at all.

Annan said Iraq was cooperating with arms inspections and he saw no need for military action until inspectors searching for suspected weapons of mass destruction report back to the UN Security Council by Jan 27.

“I really do not see any basis for an action until then, particularly as (the inspectors) are able to carry out their work in an unimpeded manner,” Annan said in an interview with Israel’s Army Radio monitored in Jerusalem.

On the streets of Baghdad, Iraqis were hoping for more than a stay of execution.

“God willing, peace will prevail in Iraq in the New Year and the phantom of war will be lifted,” said Samer al-Amiri, 52, sipping black tea in a cafe in the Iraqi capital.

The United States already has declared Baghdad in material breach of a Security Council resolution giving Iraq one last chance to disarm or face “serious consequences”.

Baghdad says it has no banned weapons and tensions over inspections were high on Tuesday despite Annan’s insistence they were running smoothly.

The UN arms experts swooped on at least eight suspect sites in central Iraq, and the head of an engineering facility described their conduct as provocative and annoying.

“They looked at personal documents and searched everything, including briefcases of the employees and drawers in an annoying way, and even notebooks of some of the ladies were looked into thoroughly,” said Riyadh Khalil al-Hashimi, head of engineering and designing firm Sa’ad General Company.

The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) said on Tuesday Iraq has invited chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to visit Baghdad to “review cooperation” in January, before the experts report back to the Security Council.

On Monday, the United States won approval for a new Security Council resolution, co-sponsored by Britain, aimed at preventing Iraq from importing goods which could be used in war.

The 15-nation council voted 13-0 to expand the list of civilian goods under sanctions. Russia and Syria abstained.

Iraqi envoy Mohammed S. Ali said the resolution would aggravate the suffering of the Iraqi people, which could be eased only by a lifting of UN sanctions imposed in 1990.

The resolution modified a “goods review list” itemizing goods Iraq is barred from importing without UN approval.—Reuters