Arabs Urge Iraq to Comply

Arab League foreign ministers meeting in an emergency session here said Sunday that Iraq is likely to accept the U.N. resolution giving arms inspectors unrestricted access and demanding that Saddam Hussein destroy any weapons of mass destruction.

The Iraqi president has until Friday to officially accept or reject the resolution. If he accepts, the inspectors, led by Hans Blix, will return to Baghdad by next Monday to set up logistical facilities. They withdrew from Iraq in 1998 after being denied access to Hussein’s palaces and being accused by Hussein of spying.

The Iraqi News Agency reported Sunday that Hussein had called an emergency session of parliament for today to consider the U.N. demands. But Arab diplomats noted that the parliament, which is made up of Hussein supporters, and the Revolutionary Command Council, which the president heads, are largely irrelevant. Hussein makes the decisions.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, after conferring with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his counterparts at the daylong meeting of the 22-member Arab League, told reporters in Cairo that “no decision has been taken.” But Arab League sources said they had received Sabri’s assurance of likely compliance and expected a positive response from Hussein.

In a final communique, the participants in Sunday’s meeting called on Hussein to accept the U.N. terms as part of an effort “to solve all standing issues peacefully in preparation for the lifting of sanctions and the end of the [U.N.] embargo as well as the suffering of the Iraqi people.” The ministers also asserted their “absolute rejection” of any military action against Iraq.

The toughly worded U.N. resolution, initiated by the United States and passed unanimously by the Security Council on Friday, threatens “serious consequences” if Hussein fails to comply with its terms. Although the Bush administration has reserved the right to respond unilaterally if Iraq is in violation of U.N. demands, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has said the United States would go back to the Security Council before taking any military action.

It was that assurance, delivered by Powell in a letter to Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh, that persuaded Syria -- the only Arab country on the Security Council -- to cast a surprising vote in favor of the resolution Friday. Syria and other Arab states are portraying the resolution as the best way to avoid war in a region already rife with tension, much of it fueled by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The U.N. resolution provides the opportunity for a peaceful settlement,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said. “The resolution has pushed the phantom of war into the distance for several weeks or several months. Our goal is to spare Iraq and the region from a military strike.”

Even before the resolution was passed, Arab League members -- particularly Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan -- played an important role in pushing Hussein to accept U.N. demands and the return of weapons inspectors. They were particularly blunt with Iraq’s foreign minister at the Cairo meeting.

“We’re telling Iraq the Americans are really serious and this time we’re not with you,” said a senior advisor to one Arab delegation. “If you reject the resolution, you’re on your own. You’ve got no choice.”

Arab governments view Hussein with disdain, and most would no doubt be pleased if he was overthrown. But none are eager for war. They fear that military action against Iraq would result in a drawn-out conflict and that post-Hussein instability could spill over Iraq’s borders. As one Arab diplomat put it: “A war in Iraq takes us into the unknown.”

Hussein’s acceptance of the resolution would not end the threat of war. Many Arabs worry that the U.S. is looking for an excuse to attack. Hussein is likely to seek delaying tactics and raise obstacles to impede the weapons inspectors, as he did after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

The United States has already drawn up plans to attack Iraq by land, sea and air in a campaign involving at least 200,000 ground troops.

In Washington on Sunday, senior administration officials warned that President Bush is still assessing potential military operations against Iraq and that he anticipates an international coalition of political and military support if an attack is launched.

“If [Hussein] doesn’t comply this time, we are going to ask the U.N. to give authorization for all necessary means,” Powell said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “If the U.N. isn’t willing to do that, the United States, with like-minded nations, will go and disarm him forcefully.”

Under the new resolution, Hussein must declare or surrender all programs for weapons of mass destruction by Dec. 8. The U.N. inspection teams must report to the Security Council by Feb. 21. But Powell said Iraq’s compliance may be judged much earlier.

“We’re not going to wait until February to see if Iraq is cooperating or not,” Powell said. U.S. and U.N. officials “will be able to make a judgment as to cooperation very quickly, not sometime in February,” he added. Powell said Hussein “knows if he violates this resolution, military force is coming in to take him and his regime out.”

On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Powell urged senior Iraqi officers to defect, especially if a war begins. “The outcome is certain,” he said. “The regime will be destroyed, the regime will be defeated, and these generals had better make a judgment as to which side of the wall they want to be on when it’s all over.”

For her part, Condoleezza Rice, the president’s national security advisor, said Bush “has made no secret of the fact that he intends to use force if the Iraqis cannot be brought into compliance in other ways. And so, it wouldn’t surprise anybody that he is assessing the military options before him.”

The only question, Rice said on “Fox News Sunday,” is “whether this time Saddam Hussein intends to cooperate. We do not need to waste the world’s time with another game of cat and mouse.”

Hussein, Rice said, “has to lead the inspectors to facilities. He has to provide access to people who know what’s going on in these programs.”

She said “one of the most important elements” of the resolution is the requirement that U.N. officials be allowed to freely interview, and if necessary take out of the country, Iraqi scientists, technicians and officials with direct knowledge of any weapons programs. Such officials, and their families, must be “protected,” she added.

Rice declined to specify precisely what would trigger a U.S. attack. But she repeated warnings that the White House would not tolerate defiance by the Baghdad regime.

“I would assume that the next time that Saddam Hussein demonstrably gives false information, he’s going to be held in material breach, because we have to have a zero tolerance view of the Iraqi regime this time,” she said.

Despite the Arab League’s “absolute rejection” of military action, most Arab governments are believed ready to offer Washington access to some military facilities, permission for overflights and use of the Suez Canal.

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Times staff writer Bob Drogin in Washington contributed to this report.