The United Nations said on Monday that Iraq would submit a new report on VX nerve gas and anthrax stocks in a week’s time as part of a drive to avert a possible US invasion. Accused by Washington of playing a ‘‘game of deception,’’ Iraq and UN arms experts discussed on Sunday Baghdad’s proposal for ‘‘quantitative verification’’ of VX and anthrax that it says it has unilaterally destroyed. US to consult Turkey after troop vote Washington, March 3: The US is consulting with Turkey on steps after a refusal by the Turkish Parliament to let US troops use its bases for a possible invasion of Iraq, a United States official said on Sunday. ‘‘Obviously, we’re disappointed,’’ the official said. ‘‘We’re consulting with the Turkish government on the next steps, in the spirit of the strong friendship and strategic partnership between our two countries.’’ In a blow to US plans for a ‘‘northern front’’ against Iraq, Turkey’s Parliament on Saturday rejected a motion to allow as many as 62,000 US troops to be deployed in Turkey. Although US Defence officials said they would adjust their plans for a possible war on Iraq, officials have held out hope that Turkey would come around and have asked Turkey for ‘‘clarification’’ ‘‘We appreciate the strong support of the Turkish Prime Minister and his government for the resolution, and we respect Turkey’s democratic political process,’’ the official said. ‘‘The United States and Turkey share a commitment to ensuring that the Iraqi regime complies with UN resolution 1441 and eliminates its weapons.” (Reuters) Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix — due to report on Iraqi compliance to the UN Security Council at week’s end — has accused Iraq of failing to provide details to back up its claim that it has destroyed chemical and biological weapons. General Amer Al-Saadi, an adviser to President Saddam Hussein, said on Sunday excavations carried out in recent weeks at sites near Baghdad proved that Iraq had destroyed ‘‘important quantities’’ of the banned VX and anthrax substances. ‘‘Iraq will be providing a report on the VX and anthrax in a week’s time,’’ Hiro Ueki, spokesman for UN weapons inspectors in Baghdad, said. Ueki said a UN missile inspection team headed on Monday to a site to oversee Iraq’s destruction of more Al-Samoud 2 missiles. Baghdad began on Saturday destroying some 120 missiles, meeting a key UN deadline. A total of 10 missiles, whose range Blix says exceeds the 150-km limit allowed by UN resolutions, have been scrapped so far. Iraq has turned the destruction of its banned missiles into a test of world opinion on its cooperation with the United Nations, warning it could stop if the United States ignored the UN and continued to press for war. Washington showed no sign of letting up in its drive for UN backing despite fresh opposition from France and Russia, two of the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council. Speaking during a historic visit to Algiers on Monday, French President Jacques Chirac urged Iraq to step up its cooperation with UN weapons inspectors while reaffirming his country’s opposition to war. ‘‘Iraq should do more, offer increased and more active cooperation,’’ Chirac told Algeria’s Parliament during his three-day visit. In what was widely seen as a signal of US intentions, Washington has also extended the targets being attacked by air patrols in ‘‘no-fly’’ zones over Iraq to include weapons that could hinder a ground invasion. Senior US Defence officials said there had been an aggressive shift in strategy in the no-fly zones, set up after the 1991 Gulf War and now covering more than half the country. New targets being attacked almost daily by US and British patrols include surface-to-surface missile systems and multiple-launch rockets that could be used against ground troops in an invasion or against neighbouring nations. In a setback, Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan held out little hope that his country’s Parliament might reconsider its narrow vote on Saturday to bar US forces from using Turkish soil to attack Iraq. The Pentagon says it can draw up alternative plans for a war against Iraq without using Turkey as a northern front, but analysts believe such a campaign would be slower, more costly and far riskier. The US and Britain are rapidly building up a force of nearly 200,000 troops in Kuwait, and it is an open secret the Pentagon would like to launch any war before Iraq’s fierce summer heat from April makes combat conditions tougher. Arab ministers, meeting in Doha, stopped short on Monday of formally backing a call by the UAE that Saddam leave Iraq and go into exile to avert war. Saddam vowed in an interview last week that he would rather die than go into exile. (Reuters)
