January 29, 2003	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 25,1423

MONTREAL, Jan 28: Iraq will not rule out launching an attack against Kuwait if that country is used as a base for a US military operation, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said in an interview on Monday with Canada’s CBC television.

“Kuwait is a battlefield and American troops are in Kuwait and preparing themselves to attack Iraq,” said Aziz.

Aziz also said Iraq was ready to increase cooperation with UN weapons inspectors as they continue investigating whether Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction under UN resolution 1441 of Nov 8.

The Iraqi official’s statement followed a report by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to the UN Security Council saying that Iraq had not provided enough evidence to back claims it had destroyed its weapons of mass destruction.

The United States, which is massing tens of thousands of troops around Iraq, immediately said there was no sign Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein wants to cooperate.

France, Russia and China — who along with Britain and the United States hold veto power in the Security Council — came out in favour of giving the inspectors more time to determine whether Iraq has disarmed.—AFP