Iraqis Reportedly Aimed Guns at U.N. Copters Hunting Scuds

Iraqi forces trained their guns on two helicopters carrying U.N. arms inspectors Monday, interrupting their search for Scud missiles, the New York Times reported today.

Quoting unnamed officials, the newspaper said the incident took place as the inspectors mounted a major search west of Baghdad for hidden missiles, missile parts and missile launchers.

The paper said Western officials added that the U.N. commission overseeing the elimination of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction will investigate the incident and planned to notify the Security Council, which could issue a warning or threaten punitive action against Iraq.

Some inspectors searched on the ground while a U-2 spy plane flew overhead, the newspaper said. A pair of U.N. helicopters joined in the inspection, taking photographs to chronicle any suspicious activity by Iraqis.

As the two helicopters flew toward the area, the crews saw that Iraqi forces had trained antiaircraft guns on them, officials said. Underscoring the threat, an Iraqi official also warned the inspectors against continuing, the officials added.

The helicopters left the area, then returned to complete their search, but the delay may have given the Iraqis time to remove material from the area, the newspaper said.

Any such activity would have been recorded by the U-2 plane, it quoted Western officials as saying.

Iraq has destroyed 151 missiles under U.N. supervision, and the United Nations has verified Iraqi declarations that it has scrapped hundreds more missiles, launch vehicles and other munitions.

The inspectors must certify that Iraq is complying with Security Council Resolution 687 before sanctions, including a ban on the unrestricted sale of oil, can be lifted.

Resolution 687 is the Gulf War cease-fire document under which Iraq is obliged to dismantle its weapons programs.

The chief U.N. inspector, Nikita Smidovich, told reporters on arrival in Bahrain from Baghdad that the Iraqis need to do a lot more to comply with Security Council terms imposed after Baghdad lost the Gulf War in 1991. Iraq should provide “fully correct declarations” about its weapons programs; “we know that some of their declarations are simply false,” Smidovich said.