Powell: Iraq Proof at Hand

The United States said Friday that the United Nations would be confronted with a “persuasive case” by the end of January that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is not complying with the U.N. resolutions requiring him to surrender his country’s deadliest weapons.

In remarks released by the State Department on the anniversary of the start of the 1991 Gulf War, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the United States would be able to make its case and would soon present new evidence to prove that Baghdad is hiding weapons of mass destruction.

“We will be presenting information in the days ahead, more than we have in the past, that will give you our impression and our evidence,” Powell said in an interview with journalists from new member nations of the U.N. Security Council.

The United Nations will hear from chief inspector Hans Blix and chief nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei on Jan. 27. Council deliberations on the next steps will follow.

Powell suggested that the Security Council may ask for a follow-up report as soon as two weeks later to track progress -- or lack of it.

“I think there will be a debate, a discussion that we’ll have to enter into, as to how Blix and ElBaradei should move forward after they have reported,” he said.

The United States, Powell said, has already concluded that Hussein is “tricking” the inspectors and “blocking” their work, potential grounds for additional action against Baghdad.

As it did with the previous U.N. teams, Iraq has been moving containers with evidence of arms programs just before the new inspectors arrive, U.S. officials alleged Friday.

“We believe a persuasive case will be there at the end of the month that Iraq is not cooperating,” Powell said, according to a transcript of the interview released Friday by the State Department.

“If Iraq wanted to get to the truth and wanted to satisfy the mandate, they would not be waiting to have information pulled out of them, pried out of them, dug out of holes. They’d be putting it all forward: ‘Here’s what we did. Here are all the people who used to participate in the programs that we no longer have.’ That’s what we are looking for,” Powell said.

The White House said the dozen chemical warheads found Thursday by U.N. weapons inspectors were not declared in the Iraqi government’s massive declaration last month, contrary to Baghdad’s assertions. The administration called the discovery of the 122-millimeter warheads “troubling and serious” and further proof that Iraq is not cooperating.

“Under the U.N. resolution, Saddam has an obligation to disarm. It has become increasingly clear that he is not doing so,” White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said. “The chemical warheads found by the inspectors were not -- not -- on the declared list of weapons that Iraq issued just one month ago,” he said.

The State Department said it was not buying Baghdad’s explanations. “This kind of shell was mentioned as one of the missing items. And to have the Iraqis act surprised just doesn’t wash,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

The U.N. teams appeared less certain about the status of the warheads. Blix, in Paris meeting with President Jacques Chirac, said he was not sure if they had been declared. But he expressed confidence that they would not be considered a smoking gun, even by the United States.

In the interview, Powell said the case against Baghdad is already so clear-cut that the Bush administration believes it does not need to go back to the Security Council for a second resolution supporting military action. His comments come amid growing discussion about many countries’ preference for a second resolution, and on the eve of talks between Powell and council foreign ministers Sunday and Monday in New York.

“We have always made it clear that even in the absence of a second resolution, if the United States feels strongly that Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction and [is] trying to develop new ones, the United States reserves the right and believes there is sufficient authority within international law ... for undertaking whatever might be required to disarm Iraq,” Powell said.

Hussein marked the 12th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm by calling on Iraqis to “hold your swords and guns up high,” and taunting the United States with a warning that his forces would deter any invasion at the gates of Baghdad.

“We have determined and planned to defeat the aggressors. We have mobilized our abilities.... Baghdad, its people and leadership, are determined to force the Mongols of our age to commit suicide at it gates,” the Iraqi leader said in a 40-minute televised speech marking the start of the war launched by a U.S.-led coalition to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqis.

The Mongol army, led by a grandson of Genghis Khan, captured and destroyed Baghdad in the 13th century at a time when it was a leading center of scholarship, science and the arts.

The speech was reminiscent of Hussein’s rhetoric on the eve of Desert Storm, when he promised that a U.S.-led offensive would produce the “mother of all battles.”

But Iraqi may have started to look for ways to avoid war. Hussein has dispatched his most trusted and powerful relative, Gen. Ali Hassan Majid, to four Arab countries for talks.

Majid, who is allegedly linked to Iraq’s use of chemical weapons, was in Damascus on Friday for talks with the Syrian leadership. Syria is currently on the Security Council.

“Syria believes that a U.S. attack on Iraq would be an aggression against an Arab country whose people have suffered a decade of economic sanctions,” said an editorial Friday in Al Baath, the newspaper reflecting the ruling Baath Party’s position. “Such an aggression would push the region into an unknown tunnel and would open the door wide to dangerous possibilities.”

Majid will also visit Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.