U.S. and Iraq Air Their Mutual Hostility at the United Nations

The United States proposed tightening economic sanctions against Iraq on Monday, and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz personally argued his country’s case at the U.N. against the world body’s disarmament officials, as Washington and Baghdad exchanged outbursts of bellicose rhetoric.

A potential flash point in the dispute passed peacefully, however, when an American U-2 reconnaissance plane on loan to the United Nations spent about four hours patrolling Iraqi airspace without drawing antiaircraft fire. In the days leading up to Monday’s flight, Iraq had said it would fire on the plane, and the U.S. had threatened to retaliate.

According to officials in Baghdad, the aircraft flew beyond the range of Iraqi antiaircraft missiles. U.N. officials declined to discuss the flight plan or Baghdad’s account of the mission and said additional flights by the U-2 remained “under consideration” despite continued threats by the Iraqis to bring it down.

In Washington, President Clinton welcomed the safe flight and added that “the next step is to get a very strong resolution from the United Nations manifesting the determination of the international community” to force Iraq to back down.

At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson and other U.S. officials began rounding up support for such a resolution by the Security Council. The measure would condemn Iraq, impose travel restrictions on high-level Iraqi officials and warn of further “serious measures” unless the government of President Saddam Hussein resumes cooperation with the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq, which was set up after the 1991 Persian Gulf War to supervise the elimination of Iraq’s ability to develop biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

Iraq has blocked the commission’s weapons inspections since Oct. 29, when Baghdad vowed to expel all Americans working for the commission in Iraq and demanded a halt to the U-2 flights. The United Nations has refused to bow to the Iraqi ultimatum.

The proposed Security Council resolution reflects the U.S. strategy of gradually turning up the pressure on Baghdad, beginning with tightened sanctions in the form of travel restrictions. But the Americans will proceed cautiously, hoping to get the unanimous backing of the 14 other members of the council. Russia and France have been critical of Iraq’s position but reluctant to publicly endorse new sanctions or military force.

The Americans began circulating their proposal after the council heard from Secretary-General Kofi Annan and three special envoys he sent to Baghdad last week in an unsuccessful effort to persuade Hussein to change his policy. Annan said he remained hopeful that the Iraqis will change their minds.

“I hope all is not lost and that there could be some room for maneuver and that down the line, in the next day or so, we will have the right decisions taken,” Annan said.

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There was no sign of retreat Monday from Aziz, who arrived in New York to present what he called Iraq’s “grievances and suffering” at the hands of the U.N. disarmament commission.

Aziz had private meetings with Annan, Chinese Ambassador Qin Huasun, who is president of the Security Council this month, and Sergei V. Lavrov, the ambassador from Russia, one of the countries believed to have the most influence with Iraq. He was lobbying for an opportunity to address the council and challenge assertions by Richard Butler, the Australian who heads the weapons inspectors, that Iraq is covering up biological and chemical weapons programs.

It was not clear whether Aziz, who is expected to remain in New York for at least several more days, will be permitted to address the council. In a long statement to reporters Monday, he repeated claims that the commission is a puppet of the United States and a cover for American espionage and that the U.S. will never permit the Security Council to lift economic sanctions against Iraq so long as Hussein remains in power.

“We are ready to fulfill all our obligations. . . . But we want our concerns and grievances to be understood, to be addressed fairly, and the people of Iraq are entitled to live normally by lifting the sanctions,” Aziz said.

“If anyone here on the Security Council thinks they can scare Iraq with additional sanctions, they cannot.”

Aziz also responded to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s comment Sunday that Hussein is a “congenital liar” by returning the insult. And he accused Butler of misrepresenting the facts in reports to the Security Council.

U.N. officials dismissed Aziz’s claims as ridiculous. They noted that there are only six Americans now working for the weapons commission in Baghdad, compared with 39 Chileans, 13 New Zealanders, 11 Britons and even 11 Iraqis.

“One of these days, I’m going to stand up in front of him at one of these things and shout, ‘You are a liar,’ ” said one U.N. official Monday on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad on Monday, men, women and children marched and chanted anti-U.S. slogans during at least three government-orchestrated demonstrations. Hundreds were also allowed into the opulent main Baghdad palace of Hussein, where they said they were willing to remain as “human shields.”

“I and my four children are ready to die for Saddam Hussein,” protester Ahmad Husseini told Reuters news service. The families were given boxed lunches of chicken and mutton, a luxury in a country where food is rationed.

Elsewhere in the Arab world, support for the Iraqi government’s position seemed to build, with pro-Iraq demonstrations in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip and Ramallah in the West Bank.

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Times staff writers John Daniszewski in Amman, Jordan, and Paul Richter and Norman Kempster in Washington contributed to this report.

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How Vulnerable Is the U-2?

An unarmed U-2 plane faces two major dangers in the Iraqi skies: the SA-2 surface-to-air missile and the MIG-25 interceptor warplane. The greatest danger is from the missile, experts say.

U-2 flight altitude: 60,000 ft. Commercial aircraft altitude: 30,000 ft.

* Russian-made MIG-25

Capable of high-altitude, but less likely to be a threat because the air is thin at 60,000 feet. A U-2 would be a difficult intercept for inexperienced Iraqi pilots.

* Soviet-made Sa-2 missile

Reaches maximum velocity at 25,000 feet and starts losing maneuverability over 30,000 feet. Iraq has at least two dozen batteries of SA-2s. Each battery has three to six launchers, and each launcher fires one or two missiles.

Maximum altitude: 98,000 ft.

Effective altitude: Approximately 30,000ft.

Weight: 5,000 lbs.

Range 35 miles

U-2 Spy Plane

Experts say the unarmed plane is easy to target over Iraq because it is on radar screens a long time.

Crew: One

Altitude: 60,000 ft.

Weight: 40,000 lbs.

Cruise speed: 475 mph

Payload: 4,000 lbs.

Contractor: Lockheed Aircraft Corp.

(Wingspan: 103 ft.)

(Nose to tail: 63 ft.)

(Tail to bottom: 16 ft.)

Sources: U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin, Associated Press, Jane’s