Feb 7, 4:32 AM EST
Iraqi Scientist Meets U.N. Inspectors
By HAMZA HENDAWI
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraq allowed a scientist to give a private interview on Saddam Hussein's banned weapons programs, meeting a key U.N. demand just ahead of a critical visit to Baghdad by the top U.N. weapons inspectors.
However, it remained unclear whether other scientists would also be allowed to speak privately. One of the inspectors insisted Iraq must make "drastic" changes in its cooperation, and a senior U.N. official said Saddam still must provide hard evidence about Iraqi weapons programs.
Iraqi and U.N. officials said Thursday an Iraqi biologist had submitted to a private interview with inspectors. The United Nations has demanded confidential questioning for months, saying weapons experts and scientists will be more forthcoming.
Presidential adviser Lt. Gen. Amer al-Saadi said "the tension" led scientists to volunteer for private interviews. The U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it appeared the biologist had been coached by the Iraqis.
Chief nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei said in London that when he and his counterpart Hans Blix meet in Baghdad this weekend, Iraq needs "to show drastic change in terms of cooperation."
A U.N. statement issued late last month said 16 Iraqis had been asked to submit to private interviews since the resumption of inspections in November but none had accepted.
The United States contends the scientists face punishment, even death, if they agree to meet the inspectors alone. Iraq has said the scientists refuse because they are afraid their words could be distorted.
The Iraqi concession did not change the hardline stance of President Bush, who declared at the White House: "The game is over." He urged skeptical U.S. allies to join in disarming Iraq.
A British diplomat said the British government is likely to introduce a new U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq after top weapons inspectors return from Baghdad and report to the U.N. Security Council on Feb. 14. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity.
Among the 15 U.N. Security Council members, only Britain has lined up solidly behind the United States on Iraq.
Bush said he was open to a second U.N. resolution as long as it called for prompt action. Aides said the White House would step up pressure on key nations such as France and Germany to come around to the U.S. position.
France - which unlike Germany holds a council veto - has refused to give in to the United States and has called for more inspectors to go to Iraq.
ElBaradei and chief U.N. chemical and biological inspector Hans Blix travel to Baghdad on Saturday. They were expected to gain Iraqi concessions on such issues as U-2 reconnaissance flights and interviews with scientists, but the U.N. official said Baghdad must also provide hard evidence on weapons programs.
The United States and Britain accuse Saddam's regime of concealing chemical, nuclear and biological weapons that it is banned from having under U.N. resolutions adopted following its defeat in the 1991 Gulf War.
A resolution approved unanimously by the Security Council in November authorized a new round of U.N. inspections and warned Iraq of serious consequences if it defied earlier demands to get rid of weapons of mass destruction.
Al-Saadi repeated Iraq's position that the United States and Britain should halt air patrols in the "no-fly" zones when U-2s were in the skies.
At a press conference, al-Saadi also offered a rebuttal to allegations against Iraq leveled Wednesday by Secretary of State Colin Powell as he made the U.S. case before the Security Council.
Al-Saadi complained that Powell often spoke of "our sources" without identifying them and implied that taped conversations between Iraqi officers had been faked.
"The fiction goes on," al-Saadi said. "It goes on and on."
| 
