United Nations, Mar 12: Iraq has appealed to the UN Security Council and to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to prevent what it called the imminent catastrophe of war led by the United States. Iraq's ambassador to the UN, Mohammed Al-Douri, told an open meeting of the council which began late last night that the goal of the United States and its ally, Britain, was not Iraqi disarmament, as demanded by the council, but "to lay their hands on our oil." Al-Douri declared that his country had taken "the strategic decision to rid itself of its weapons of mass destruction," adding that it had completed its disarmament before the previous UN arms inspectors left Iraq in 1998. "Iraq calls upon the international community to prevent a catastrophe which has become imminent," he said.
"We call upon the Secretary General and the Security Council to shoulder their responsibilities under the UN charter." Al-Douri was the first of 42 speakers scheduled to speak in what was expected to be a two-day session, called to allow all UN member states to air their views on a draft resolution which seeks to disarm Iraq by force.
Bureau Report