Russia flexes diplomatic muscle

BAGHDAD - Russia flexed its diplomatic muscle yesterday, starting a peace mission in Baghdad to avert a United States-led war against Iraq.

"We have to seize any chance to achieve and find a diplomatic and peaceful solution," said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov, whose country has kept closer ties than many with Iraq and is one of the UN Security Council's five veto-wielding members.

Russia opposes military action against Iraq without a new UN mandate, but the US and Britain have reserved the right to wage their own war if the United Nations fails to get Baghdad to surrender any weapons of mass destruction.

UN experts hunted yesterday for weapons deep inside President Saddam Hussein's main palace in Baghdad.

It was unclear whether Saddam was at his palace office when inspectors drove into the compound.

The UN team complained of having to wait for keys to safes during their visit.

Moscow made its peace bid a day after US President George W. Bush warned Saddam that his patience was running out, and Canada joined anxious states in Europe and the Middle East in demanding that UN approval be a condition for any war.

As financial markets and governments around the world remained jittery, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Washington had not reached the point of no return towards war despite pouring warplanes, ships and tens of thousands of troops into the oil-rich Gulf region.

But the White House kept up pressure on Iraq by announcing that Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair would meet at Camp David near Washington on January 31, four days after arms inspectors deliver a key report to the UN on Iraqi compliance.

In Brussels, Nato officials said the US had formally asked its Nato allies for indirect military assistance in case of war, including the deployment of hardware to protect Turkey, a member of the alliance, in case it faces retaliation for allowing attacking forces to use its air bases.

Washington wants help in an array of areas, including using Nato's planning facilities to coordinate efforts such as transport for troops and equipment, mid-air refueling, or even air cover for ground troops. The US also seeks to use Nato Awacs surveillance planes, minesweepers or naval patrol ships.

US Republican Congressman Douglas Bereuter, president of Nato's parliamentary assembly and a member of Congress' intelligence select committee, did not rule out seeking UN backing for any war.

"[The US] would very much find it advantageous to have a supportive resolution, perhaps even a second one, from the UN in terms of a broader coalition and greater support of the people in countries of the international community," he said.

Moscow described Saltanov's trip as part of "constant contacts" to ensure implementation of UN resolutions.

Saltanov flew into Baghdad days before the UN's top two arms inspectors arrive to demand answers and more co-operation from Iraq to establish whether it has chemical, biological or nuclear weapons or long-range missiles.

Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, preparing for their report due on January 27, have made clear they are ready to get tough.

Blair, riding out warnings that military action could tear his centre-left Labour Party apart, readied more troops for war and insisted on the right to attack without clear UN backing.

Yesterday, 3000 troops aboard the helicopter carrier Ocean set sail for the Gulf as part of Britain's biggest seaborne invasion task force in 20 years.

Saddam, who insists Iraq has rid itself of all banned weapons, appeared again on Iraqi television defiantly brushing aside US and British threats of war.

"We don't want to fight by choice, but when it is imposed upon us we'll fight," he said.

US and British forces would face the prospect of fighting units of child soldiers trained by Saddam Hussein to carry out ambushes, sniper attacks and road-blocks, say US military analysts.

The Pentagon has no official plans on how to deal with child soldiers - leaving its troops vulnerable to deadly attacks from seemingly harmless children as well as the trauma of having to kill youngsters.

Experts say the Pentagon's public relations operation is also not prepared to deal with having such images broadcast in the Arab world.

Experts say that over the past decade the Iraqi regime has been intensely training children aged 10 to 15. The training camps for these units, known as Ashbal Saddam (Saddam Lion Cubs), involve up to 14 hours a day of weapons drill and political indoctrination.

In a recent briefing document, Peter Singer, an analyst with the Brookings Institution think-tank, said there were up to 8000 child soldiers in Baghdad alone.

As with the Hitler Youth, which fought in the battle for Berlin, the Iraqi child soldiers could "operate with unexpected and terrifying audacity", he said.

Meanwhile, time has run out for the CIA to organise a coup against Saddam, leaving conventional warfare as the main instrument to achieve a "regime change" in Baghdad, intelligence experts say.

"Given the timeline here, it's unlikely you're going to be able to put together a successful coup in a couple of months," said one former intelligence official.

With the Pentagon massing forces for a possible invasion of Iraq, US spy operations are focused instead on paving the way through propaganda and organising opposition groups, similar to the 2001 campaign in Afghanistan against the Taleban and al Qaeda.

Saddam has tight control over his inner circle and would kill anyone suspected of plotting a coup.

The Iraqi leader has also been known to test loyalty.

"He does double, triple plots," said a US Government source. "He'll have people talk about a coup and he'll find out who is sympathetic and he'll have them killed."

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS

Herald feature: Iraq