US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday played tapes and showed satellite pictures which he said proved the Iraqi military had conspired to conceal banned weapons from UN weapons inspectors.
In a high-stakes address to win over skeptical countries to the American view that force may be needed soon if Iraq fails to cooperate with weapons inspectors, Powell urged the UN not to shrink from disarming Iraq.
"We wrote [resolution] 1441 to give Iraq one last chance. Iraq is not so far taking that one last chance. We must not shrink from whatever is ahead of us. We must not fail in our duty and responsibility to the citizens of the countries that are represented by this body," Powell said.
As he spoke, another country that Washington accuses of pursuing a weapons of mass destruction program, North Korea, sounded a defiant note, saying it had restarted atomic facilities and put them on a "normal footing."
After the Sept. 11 attacks on the US President George W. Bush named North Korea, Iraq and Iran as an "axis of evil" for their suspected weapons development programs
In a presentation that included US intelligence from spy satellites, telephone intercepts and Iraqi defectors, Powell argued that Iraq had concealed equipment from its suspected weapons programs to flout the UN inspectors searching the country for evidence of chemical, biological and nuclear arms.
He argued that Iraq is in "further material breach" of UN resolutions demanding that it disarm and he said it was now in danger of suffering "serious consequences," diplomatic code for the possibility of a US-led military invasion.
Speaking with US Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet sitting behind him, Powell's presentation was designed to persuade the Security Council and world opinion that UN weapons inspectors cannot disarm Iraq and that war may be the only resort.
On financial markets, stocks and oil prices rose and safe-haven US Treasuries slipped
"We have this modified vehicle ... What do we say if one of them sees it?" said a voice in one audiotape that Powell said was the voice of an Iraqi colonel.
"You didn't get a modified ... you don't have a modified," replies an incredulous general. "I'll come to see you in the morning. I'm worried. You all have something left."
"We evacuated everything. We don't have anything left," the junior officer replies.
"This effort to hide things from the inspectors is not one or two isolated events, quite the contrary. This is part and parcel of a policy of evasion and deception that goes back 12 years, a policy set at the highest levels of the Iraqi regime," Powell said.
"I believe that Iraq is now in further material breach of its obligations," he later added. "I believe this conclusion is irrefutable and undeniable. Iraq has now placed itself in danger of the serious consequences."
While none of the UN Security Council's members believe Iraq has offered its unstinting cooperation to the UN weapons inspectors searching the country for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, many believe they deserve more time.
That view clashes with US President George W. Bush's stand that Baghdad has weeks, not months, to bow to the will of the United Nations and give up its suspected arms or face a US-led military campaign.
Iraq, which denies it has such weapons, blasted Powell's address in advance through government newspaper al-Jumhouriya, which said: "What Powell is going to present will be cheap satellite pictures and vague recorded conversations."
There was no sign from the major powers most skeptical of using force - -- France and Germany - -- that they were shifting their positions ahead of Powell's remarks.
"We will not take part in any military action," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who chaired the Security Council meeting, told German reporters before Powell spoke.
Saying France would listen to Powell carefully, French European Affairs Minister Noelle Lenoir emphasized allowing the inspectors to work. "It will be up to the inspectors to take into account any new elements and draw the consequences by going, if necessary, to verify them on the ground," Lenoir told the National Assembly in Paris.
In another sign the region is bracing for war, Kuwait said it would close the northern half of the country bordering Iraq from Feb. 15 to step up training to defend against any attack and would close its airspace if war broke out.
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