Russia Tells U.N. Iraq Will Accept U.S. Inspectors

After an early morning gathering here of U.N. Security Council members, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced today that Baghdad reportedly was ready to allow U.N. weapons inspectors--including Americans--back into Iraq to complete the dismantling of weapons of mass destruction.

“Iraq will accept the U.N. back in its previous composition,” Albright announced, citing a report to Security Council members by Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny M. Primakov. The Iraqis were expected to announce the agreement today.

The move would amount to a major reversal for the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein after three weeks of insisting that it was no longer willing to allow U.S. participation in the U.N.-mandated disarmament program in Iraq.

The meeting here among the representatives of the five permanent Security Council members did not produce an endorsement of a Russian diplomatic initiative that would speed up the disarmament team’s work, which in turn would expedite the end of tough economic sanctions on Iraq.

But a joint communique read by British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook did announce that the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq--the inspection team--would begin talks Friday to “discuss and advise” on ways to make its disarmament program more effective.

This could include discussions on a series of issues that Iraq wants addressed, including the composition of the arms inspection team. One suggestion that has lurked in the background of the standoff, for example, is adding more inspectors to the team so that the percentage of Americans diminishes.

Albright insisted that there were no concessions given for Iraq’s compliance. She said there was no discussion of lifting sanctions.

“The United States has not agreed to anything. Our position has been clear . . . to make sure Saddam Hussein is not in a position to threaten.”

The reason for Hussein’s reversal, she said, was that he saw and understood the unity of the Security Council. The prevention of a split was also viewed by U.S. officials as a victory because Russia and France have long been at odds with the United States over how and when sanctions should be lifted.

The ball is now in Baghdad’s court. “Now it’s a matter of seeing if Iraq fulfills what it said to Primakov that it would do. Now it’s a matter of Iraqi actions,” Albright told a news conference.

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The outcome is a tentative victory for Albright, who cut short a visit to India and flew to Geneva to hold off Russian efforts at finding a framework for drawing the broader U.N. operation in Iraq to a close. From the beginning of the session, Albright repeatedly made clear that Washington could not agree to any commitments that Russia had made with the Iraqis and that the United States would not support any side deals.

Primakov told the closed-door meeting in the U.N. Palais des Nation that he thought he had won an unconditional acceptance from Hussein’s regime that he expected to be announced “in hours,” a senior U.S. official said. He did, however, say that in case Baghdad did not comply, he wanted to assemble the five permanent Security Council members again.

As a result, Albright also told the following news conference that it would be “premature” to consider redeployment of U.S. firepower dispatched to the Persian Gulf since Iraq first said Oct. 29 that it would expel the U.S. inspectors.

The two-hour Geneva meeting among the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. and a Chinese representative left open key differences on critical issues that must still eventually be dealt with--possibly sooner rather than later.

When it comes to getting Hussein to cooperate with the destruction of his illegal weapons, Russia and France believe that he can be enticed with incentives. The U.S. and Britain think that he must be pushed with sanctions--and sometimes with military force.

Moreover, the United States has said it does not favor lifting sanctions as long as Hussein maintains his hold on power. Albright pronounced that policy goal in a pivotal speech last spring after years of inferences by her predecessors.

A rapid lifting of the sanctions is a principal goal of the regime and of Russia, which is eager to complete billions of dollars worth of oil deals linked to the end of the embargo.

Under terms of the U.N. resolution ending the 1991 Persian Gulf War, sanctions cannot be ended until U.N. weapons inspectors certify that Iraq no longer can wage nuclear, chemical or biological warfare and that it has destroyed all its long-range missiles. The cease-fire also provides for long-term monitoring to ensure Iraq does not reacquire proscribed weapons.

The current impasse grew out of an Iraqi announcement Oct. 29 that the Persian Gulf nation would stop cooperating with U.N. inspections until all Americans participating in the program were removed and flights by an American U-2 reconnaissance plane on loan to the U.N. were halted. Iraq says it has destroyed all its prohibited weapons and accuses the U.S. of manipulating the inspections to ensure that sanctions will never be lifted and of using the operation as a cover for spying.

The Clinton administration links the lifting of sanctions not only to Iraqi weapons destruction but to U.N. resolutions calling for Baghdad to honor human rights. And as long as Hussein is in power, U.S. policymakers contend, human rights and democratic principles are unlikely to be recognized.

Washington and London also remain deeply suspicious of any of Iraq’s representations to the weapons inspectors. The U.N. inspectors consistently have trapped the Iraqis in lies and cover-ups about its weapons programs.

In New York on Wednesday, much of that record was repeated by disarmament specialists, who said in a presentation to the Security Council that Hussein has had the time and ability to stock up on chemical- and germ-warfare weapons in the three weeks he has been blocking U.N. disarmament inspections in his country.

U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson called it “a consistent pattern of Iraqi concealment.”

In the briefing, the representatives of the U.N. commission charged with eliminating Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction reviewed evidence of Iraq’s capacity to rapidly produce mustard gas, a chemical agent used in World War I, and anthrax, a biological weapon.

With inspections on hold, officials said, there is no way of knowing whether the Iraqis have done so. However, the commission estimated that the Hussein government could produce 350 liters--about 92 gallons--of anthrax a week. That’s enough to fill two missile warheads or four bombs.

Commission staffers, led by Chairman Richard Butler of Australia, also discussed Iraq’s potential for manufacturing long-range missiles that could deliver warheads as far as Europe, its failure to fully account for at least 4 tons of the deadly nerve gas VX and the program of concealment the Iraqis have used to hide these activities from the inspectors.

In response to a request by Lavrov, the Russian ambassador, Butler and nine technical assistants--four Americans, two Germans, a Russian, a Frenchman and a Dutchman--gave a methodical review of what the disarmament commission has learned, as well as what remains hidden or unknown.

They illustrated their talks with large graphs and charts and oversized photographs. One picture, taken by the U-2, illustrated how the commission uses the spy plane to photograph the shell game Iraq sometimes employs by using truck convoys to move prohibited equipment or documents from one building to another one step ahead of inspectors on the ground.

At a news conference afterward, Butler declined to estimate how far behind the inspectors might be as a result of their withdrawal late last week but acknowledged that “as each day passes, the degree of difficulty [catching up] increases.”

Most of the information presented was included in the commission’s previous written reports, but one participant said the review “concentrates the mind as far as what’s still out there.”

But a source present said the differences on the council were evident as the French and Russian representatives sought during questioning of Butler to highlight areas where the commission has made the most progress and received the most cooperation from Iraq; the Americans tried to underline the problems.

Among the first charts shown to the council was a map with concentric circles radiating out from Iraq. The circles represented the range of missiles that at one time or another have been in Iraq’s military plans. Among the cities shown on the map as within missile range were Moscow and Paris.

In Washington, President Clinton on Wednesday stressed that, although his administration wants to find a peaceful resolution to the standoff with Baghdad, he will not compromise with Hussein, even if it leaves no alternative but military action.

“Iraq must comply with the unanimous will of the international community and let the weapons inspectors resume their work to prevent Iraq from developing an arsenal of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons,” Clinton said at the White House as he signed a bill easing rules on adoptions. “That’s our top line. That’s our bottom line.”

Clinton appeared to be trying to prepare the public for possible military action. “I do not want these children we are trying to put in stable homes to grow up into a world where they are threatened by terrorists with biological and chemical weapons,” Clinton said. “It is not right.”

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Wright reported from Geneva, Turner from the United Nations. Times staff writer Elizabeth Shogren in Washington contributed to this report.

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Troop Update

A look at the growing U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf.

* 50 aircraft and 1,000 personnel based in Incirlik, Turkey

* 1,500 Army personnel based in Kuwait

* 6,000 Air Force personnel based at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia

* 22,000 Navy and Marine personnel

Navy: At least 24 ships, including the aircraft carriers Nimitz and George Washington

Marines: 2,100 Marines and sailors of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the Peleliu, Juneau and Comstock