THE VATICAN/BLIX REPORT: The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tariq Aziz, said the interim report by the UN weapons inspectors, Dr Hans Blix and Dr Mohammed ElBaradei, indicated clearly that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction and also did not have links to al-Qaeda, writes Paddy Agnew.
Mr Aziz was speaking at a news conference in Rome on a day dominated by his Vatican audience with Pope John Paul II. Admitting that he had not been able to study the full text of the inspectors' report, Mr Aziz nonetheless claimed that its overall thrust bore out the Iraqi contention that US military intervention against Iraq would be "unjust, immoral and illegal".
Throughout a tense news conference during which he declined to take a question from an Israeli reporter, a determined Mr Aziz regularly decried the threatened military intervention calling it "an imperialist war of aggression" that contravened all the most basic principles of international law.
"The whole basis of US strategy is to commit an aggression on Iraq, and the main point of that is to get hold of the oil of Iraq and also to reshape the whole Middle East region according to US interests," said Mr Aziz.
Not for the first time, he issued a dire warning about the possible long-term implications for world peace of US-led military intervention in Iraq.
"Countries which do not agree with this war of aggression should not participate because the Arab and Islamic world will interpret this as a crusade [against them], and this will then poison relations between Christians and the Islamic and Arabic world."
Earlier in Baghdad and just before Dr Blix and Dr ElBaradei presented their reports, President Saddam Hussein complied with a key UN arms demand by decreeing a ban on importing or making weapons of mass destruction
"Individuals and companies in private and mixed sectors are banned from importing and producing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons," the presidential decree read. It said materials used in producing them were also banned. Throughout his news conference in Rome, Mr Aziz issued warnings to those US allies which might eventually participate in the war, saying they should be careful not to contribute to America's "imperialist ambitions".
"European countries should be careful about just how they support [President] Bush because they will end up encouraging him to do mischief."
Mr Aziz denied that Iraq was preparing to make retaliatory strikes against Israel or any other country in the event of war while he also rejected offers of "help" from the Islamic fundamentalist leader, Osama bin Laden.
"We have enough brave men and women among the 25 million strong Iraqi people to defend our own country, but we don't have the means to attack any country beyond our own," he said.
Asked about the work currently being carried out by the inspectors, Mr Aziz claimed that Iraq was co-operating fully with them. "They are seeing whatever they want to see, talking to whoever they want to talk to. We are helping them reach the ultimate truth about the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," he said.
Asked what the purpose was of a three-day visit to Italy which has also included meetings with opposition politicians and the Italian Foreign Minister, Mr Franco Frattini, Mr Aziz replied: "I came first and foremost to meet the Pope and to bring him a message from Saddam Hussein. That message is that the people of Iraq appreciate the position of the Holy See in rejecting this American war of aggression on Iraq."
Earlier in the day, Mr Aziz had had a half-hour private audience with the Pope during which he gave assurances that the Iraqi regime wishes to co-operate fully with the international community in the process of disarmament.