IRAQ: BAGHDAD: IRAQ CONTINUES TO BLOCK ARMS INSPECTIONS (2)

(14 Jan 1998) English/Nat For the second day in a row, Iraq has prevented a planned weapons site inspection by an American-led U-N team by failing to provide it with the required escorts. Two other U-N weapons inspection teams went out as scheduled on Wednesday, but the team led by Scott Ritter stayed at the U-N weapons inspectors' headquarters outside Baghdad. But the U-S Defence Secretary William Cohen says he's hopeful diplomatic initiatives can solve the latest standoff between Iraq and the U-N over its programme to find Iraq's hidden weapons. Iraqi authorities said they would bar American Scott Ritter's team from further weapons inspections because his team was overloaded with Americans and Britons. The Baghdad government accuses those two nations of seeking to prolong the disarmament process and the consequent U-N sanctions. Iraq has also accused Ritter of being a spy. The inspectors are supposed to be overseeing the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. But for a second day in a row, Ritter was left stranded at the U-N headquarters without an escort. SOUNDBITE: (English) "It's now nine nineteen and no personnel form the National Monitoring Directorate have shown up there fore once again I am compelled to postpone the inspection and report back to the executive chairman in New York where the matter now rests." SUPER CAPTION: Scott Ritter, Inspection Team Leader The chairman of the U-N Special Commission, Richard Butler, has ordered Ritter to try to continue inspections despite the Iraqis lack of cooperation. SOUNDBITE: (English) "This inspection team will continue to attempt to conduct its mission as long as the executive chairman directs." SUPER CAPTION: Scott Ritter, Inspection Team Leader Richard Butler, the chairman of the U-N Special Commission is going to Baghdad later this week to try to resolve the impasse. The U-S Defence Secretary said he hoped this coupled with diplomatic efforts could solve this latest impasse. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The United States is prepared to pursue all reasonable and responsible diplomatic initiatives, and that is precisely what is taking place today. We, I think, will have to wait for Mr. Butler to make his trip to visit Iraq and see how it proceeds from there. But all the indications I've heard about from here are quite positive that our allies are solid in their support for the need to have unlimited and unrestrained access to those sites that currently are being blocked." SUPER CAPTION: William Cohen, U-S Defence Secretary The U-N Security Council has said the sweeping sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait will not be lifted until the Special Commission gives Baghdad a clean bill of health. The Security Council is due to meet again on Wednesday after failing to agree on the wording of a U-S-drafted statement on Iraq's action against Ritter. The statement would have the council condemn Iraq's action "in the strongest terms" as a "clear violation" of Security Council resolutions. In Baghdad, people are clear about why their leadership is so against having the Americans and the British involved in the weapons inspections. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) "The Americans and the British aim to destroy the Iraqi people and cause further harm to them." SUPER CAPTION: Umad Majeed, Baghdad resident Iraq's latest move is less dramatic but no less decisive than the actual blocking of inspectors that set off the last Iraq-U-N crisis in November. Then, American inspectors were eventually thrown out of Iraq and arms inspections were halted for three weeks. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...