USA: We will wait for inspectors to submit their report to the Security Council - 2003-01-26

The Bush administration says it will wait for United Nations inspectors to submit their report to the Security Council on Monday before pressuring the UN to choose a path to support military operations against Iraq to disarm the country of weapons of mass destruction. A White House spokesperson informed Voice of America that he has no information on whether President Bush discussed the timing of an attack on Iraq in separate phone calls with the leaders of Japan and Italy on Monday. Additionally, the spokesperson stated that the refusal of Iraqi scientists to conduct private interviews with UN weapons inspectors is another reason that Iraq 'has something to hide.' The Baghdad government claims that three Iraqi physicists have refused to conduct private interviews with UN weapons inspectors. A statement released by the Iraqi government indicates that the scientists have said they will not conduct interviews without the presence of Iraqi officials. However, an interview under the mentioned conditions has taken place, but no news has been released about its results. American and UN officials insist that interviews with Iraqi scientists should be conducted privately and, if necessary, outside the country. Officials hope that Iraqi scientists will be more candid about their country's weapons in a private setting. Iraqi officials say they encourage their scientists to agree to the UN officials' requests, but senior US officials claim that the Iraqi dictator has ordered the execution of any scientist who cooperates with the weapons inspectors. Meanwhile, Iraqi officials have arrested two individuals who attempted to force their way into the area where UN weapons inspectors were working. One of these individuals jumped into one of the UN vehicles and shouted, 'Save me.' In a separate incident, a man armed with a knife who attempted to enter the inspectors' residence was arrested. The identities of these three individuals have not yet been reported.