Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, today described Iraq's claim of having no weapons of mass destruction as a gross lie in the first assessment of his country regarding the 12,000-page document submitted by Iraq to the United Nations Security Council about its weapons. He stated that the declaration has been tampered with and evidence has been removed. Previously, Prime Minister Tony Blair had said that the first official British assessment of Iraq's 12,000-page document would be announced after the Christmas holidays. The chief UN nuclear inspector has stated that no evidence indicating the existence of an Iraqi nuclear program has emerged since previous UN inspections in 1998. Mohamed ElBaradei, in an interview with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram published today, said there is no evidence of changes in Iraq's facilities over the past four years. Nevertheless, he emphasized that the current round of inspections is still in preliminary stages. U.S. officials have not provided evidence of nuclear weapons in Iraq but suggest that President Saddam Hussein may possess the necessary materials to produce such weapons. ElBaradei, along with Hans Blix, head of the UN weapons inspection team, will submit their assessment of the information Iraq recently provided about its weapons to the Security Council tomorrow. According to the Washington Post, the U.S. assessment of the information provided by Iraq will be announced on Friday. Reports indicate that President Bush's advisors have recommended he declare that Iraq has violated the UN resolution regarding the dismantling of all its weapons of mass destruction. These developments come as UN weapons inspectors begin their fourth week of inspections in Iraq, visiting several sites in search of nuclear weapons. Today, Tariq Aziz, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, stated that Iraq will engage in house-to-house fighting to defend Baghdad against any attack, claiming they will fight to the last person.
Jack Straw Calls Iraq's Claim of No Weapons of Mass Destruction a Gross Lie - 2002-12-18
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has labeled Iraq's assertion of lacking weapons of mass destruction as a blatant lie, following the submission of a 12,000-page report by Iraq to the UN. The situation is escalating as U.S. officials prepare to declare Iraq in violation of UN resolutions, while UN inspectors continue their investigations. This is significant as it heightens tensions leading up to potential military action.
👥 Key Players
📰 What Happened
Jack Straw publicly declared Iraq's claim of having no weapons of mass destruction as a gross lie, following Iraq's submission of a comprehensive report to the UN. This statement escalates tensions as the U.S. prepares to declare Iraq in violation of UN resolutions.
- Iraq submitted a 12,000-page report to the UN regarding its weapons.
- UN inspectors have found no evidence of an active nuclear program in Iraq since 1998.
💡 Why It Matters
📚 Background
In the early 2000s, the U.S. and its allies were concerned about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, which led to extensive inspections and ultimately the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
🏷️ Entities Mentioned
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