Iraq MPs reject UN's demands

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Parliament voted unanimously late last night to reject a UN resolution to disarm Baghdad, but left the final decision to President Saddam Hussein, saying it would stand by whatever position he took.

"There is a unanimous vote on the recommendation to reject the UN resolution in accordance with the opinion of our people, who put their confidence in us, and authorise the political leadership to take the appropriate decision to defend Iraq," Parliament declared.

Earlier, Saddam's son Uday had called on Parliament to accept the United Nations resolution calling on the country to disarm.

"What is required from us as a national assembly is to take clear decisions. We should, as a national assembly, accept the UN resolution which is under debate in these sessions," Uday said.

But the assembly Speaker Saadoun had denounced the UN text and said he proposed that it be rejected. He said Parliament would respect the leadership's decision.

The text was a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a "preamble for war", he said.

"What is proposed is the rejection of the UN resolution for its ill intentions."

Analysts said all key decisions in Iraq were taken by Saddam and nothing Parliament decided was likely to be more than an orchestrated show of defiance.

Iraq has until early Saturday to accept the terms of the resolution demanding Baghdad allow UN arms experts unhindered access to any site suspected of producing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

The 250-seat Parliament met for three hours in its first sitting as United States President George W. Bush made clear he would use the full force of US military might to make Iraq comply.

In sombre tribute to soldiers of wars past, Bush said he would commit "the full force and might of the US military" against Iraq if Saddam refused to disarm swiftly.

He used two Veterans Day addresses to underscore his impatience.

"The time to confront this threat is before it arrives, not the day after," he told several dozen veterans during a White House ceremony.

Behind the scenes, Bush has approved tentative Pentagon plans for invading Iraq should the latest UN arms inspection effort fail to rid the nation of weapons of mass destruction.

Administration officials say the strategy calls for a land, sea and air force of 200,000 to 250,000 troops.

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the US had quietly renewed co-operation with Kurds in northern Iraq and that US intelligence officials were already in Kurdish territory preparing for a possible attack on Saddam.

The newspaper cited Kurdish sources as saying US personnel were engaged in "multiple missions" in their territory, including advance work for a possible attack, establishing a listening post to monitor other parts of Iraq and probing an Islamic extremist group with ties to al Qaeda.

The talk of war grew to a crescendo just three days after the UN Security Council approved the new resolution by an unexpected 15-0 vote.

Hammadi, opening the Iraq Parliament's debate, said: "This UN resolution looks for a pretext for war and not for a comprehensive solution.

"It seeks to create crises rather than co-operation and paves the way for aggression rather than peace."

UN officials said yesterday that an advance team of arms inspectors and technicians would leave for Cyprus on Saturday if Iraq accepted the resolution.

The team, armed with a list of 100 priority sites, would then aim to arrive in Baghdad on November 18, they said.

In Canberra, a group of anti-war doctors said a conventional military attack against Iraq could kill more than 260,000 people in the first three months.

The figure could blow out to four million if nuclear weapons were used, said the Medical Association for Prevention of War.

The study by medical and public health experts estimated the post-war health effects could claim up to further 200,000 lives.

The minimum loss of life in the first three months of conventional war would be 48,000, the report said.

- AGENCIES

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