The Hindu : Iraqi missile exceeds range: experts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 14, 2003

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Iraqi missile exceeds range: experts

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

United Nations FEB. 13. In a development that is certain to add to the highly charged environment on Iraq at the United Nations Security Council on Friday, a team of experts has concluded that an Iraqi missile has exceeded the maximum range allowed under the U.N. resolutions.

The experts, who were appointed by the chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, met here for two days this week and determined that the Iraqi missile, Al Samoud 2, exceeds the maximum 150 km range allowed by the U.N. The experts were drawn from the five permanent members of the Security Council along with two others from Germany and the Ukraine.

The finding will undoubtedly bolster the position of the United States, which has been saying that Baghdad has not been conforming to the terms of the Council's resolutions. In fact, the top American diplomat here, John Negroponte, has argued that it is now for Dr. Blix to recommend to the Council what is to be done.

"This is something that our own intelligence sources have been telling us for months. But apparently, it is a matter of agreement among the experts,'' Mr. Negroponte said. Dr. Blix, for his part, has refused to comment on the finding. "I will tell the Security Council on Friday,'' was his remark. The top U.N. official, who is due to make his comprehensive presentation tomorrow, also would not comment if the finding puts Iraq in "material breach'' of the Council resolutions which could then trigger a military showdown.

Iraq, through its top envoy here, has said that the finding of the experts only shows that his country is open and willing to discuss the subject with Dr. Blix and the weapons inspectors. The U.N. inspection team was concerned about two Iraqi missiles — the Al Samoud 2 and the Al Fatah.

Atul Aneja reports from Manama:

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, said that the range of the Al Samoud missile was neither serious nor a "dangerous violation." On his arrival in Rome for a three-day visit, Mr. Aziz said that the missile, without the addition of the weight of its guidance package, exceeded the U.N.-stipulated range only by 16 km "and that is not a serious violation." Under the U.N. stipulation, Iraq could not develop a missile above the range of 150 km.

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