February 7, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 5,1423

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WASHINGTON, Feb 6: US Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that “within weeks” the Iraqi situation will be brought to a conclusion “one way or another.”

Presenting the Bush administration’s international affairs budget before the committee, Powell said this week’s trip to Baghdad by the United Nations chief weapon inspectors Mohamed ElBaradei and Hans Blix will play a key role in winning over support for the US stance on Iraq in the Security Council.

On Wednesday, Powell presented the US case against Iraq before the UN security council, causing speculations that Washington was not ready for a military offensive against Baghdad. Some observers have predicted however that the offensive could be launched as early as Feb. 15 or 16, a day or two after the UN inspectors present their second report before the Security Council.

Powell said council members are looking to see a change in attitude from Iraq, which the United States says is concealing its illegal weapons programmes. Powell also said that if Saddam Hussein wanted to show he was cooperating, he would allow the inspectors to meet with scientists and engineers who have worked on weapons programmes. “He would not be giving them classes in how to keep secrets,” he said.

Powell said the administration would work toward a second UN resolution, but it could proceed toward war without one. Powell said UN Security Council members knew when they approved a resolution last year calling on Iraq to disarm that Iraq would be subjected to military action if it failed to comply.

Earlier on Thursday, in interviews to major American television channels Powell said the United States would wait for second report of the UN inspectors for Iraq before taking any final decision.

In early morning interviews to major American television channels, Powell said the Feb 14 meeting of the UN Security Council on Iraq will be a very important meeting.

The inspectors are expected to present their second report on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in this meeting. Asked if the United States was going to war against Iraq now, Powell said: “We’ll see what happens when the two chief inspectors go to Baghdad this weekend and whether they bring back anything of use for Security Council deliberations. We hope we don’t have to go to war, but I must say that unless there is a change on the part of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime, I think the Security Council will have to deal with this, and I think they will stand up to the challenge of a dictator who doesn’t understand that the will of the international community cannot be ignored in this way.”

He said he would not be surprised if Saddam Hussein offered some token to the inspector but that would not be enough to prevent an international action against him.

“We’re looking for a substantive change in the policy of his government, not just another way to play cat-and-mouse with the inspectors.”

He said the United States wants him to bring the people (scientists) it wants UN inspectors to interview so that the inspectors can determine what they know about these weapons of mass destruction.

Powell said that Washington also wants Saddam to start to turn over equipment that the United States knows he has and he’s hiding.

“He needs to come clean,” Powell said.

Iraq has accused Powell of using “a collection of stunts, special effects and unnamed sources” in his presentation before the UN Security Council on Wednesday. Baghdad also claimed that Powell’s presentation was “utterly unrelated to the truth.”

Powell rejected the Iraqi claim as totally incorrect and said that “there are no doctored tapes and no doctored photos” in his report.

“What you see is the truth and it is reality, and we are very, very confident in what we presented,” he added.