Six US weapons inspectors working for the UN left Baghdad last night by road for Jordan after being ordered out of the country by the authorities, the official INA news agency reported. Iraqi television interrupted programmes to show pictures of the US inspectors leaving the headquarters of the UN special commission on Iraqi disarmament (UNSCOM), in Baghdad in UN vehicles.
The decision to make the Americans travel overnight to Jordan was taken after Iraq refused to allow them to leave with the rest of the UNSCOM team by plane on this morning, a UN official in New York said. The United Nations will continue to withdraw its weapons inspectors from Baghdad, saying it will not yield to Baghdad's attempt to single out Americans for expulsion.
The remaining officials are expected to leave today aboard an UNSCOM aircraft, the head of the commission, Mr Richard Butler, said. "We will not accept this illegal segregation of UNSCOM staff. I will withdraw all UNSCOM staff tomorrow and leave a skeletal staff at our Baghdad centre to sustain our facility pending resolution of the present crisis."
President Clinton has warned Iraq that the move to expel US weapons experts is a "challenge" to the international community which will be met "in a very determined way". "Iraq's announcement this morning to expel the Americans from the inspections teams is clearly unacceptable and a challenge to the international community," Mr Clinton said. "These inspectors, in the last six years, have uncovered more weapons of mass destruction potential and destroyed it than was destroyed in the entire Gulf war. It is important to the safety of the world that they continue their work." He intended "to pursue this matter in a very determined way".
The Iraqi order came less than 24 hours after the Security Council unanimously adopted new sanctions on Baghdad and demanded its October 29th decision to bar US nationals from weapons inspections be overturned.
The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tariq Aziz, meanwhile, sought to cast UNSCOM in the role of wrongdoer, saying it would have to bear responsibility for any decision to cut ties with Baghdad.
"If the executive chairman decides to withdraw his personnel from Baghdad and to hold the activities of UNSCOM, he will bear the responsibility for his decision," Mr Aziz said, following a final round of consultations at the UN in New York. "Iraq is ready, ready to continue its co-operation with UNSCOM. UNSCOM could perform fully its duties inside Iraq with the personnel it has, with any other personnel the executive chairman decides to send, except the Americans," he said.
Mr Butler has also ordered US-manned U2 spy planes to continue their reconnaissance missions despite Iraqi threats that they will shoot down the aircraft. He declined to say when the next flight would take place.
Under the terms of the ceasefire ending the 1991 Gulf War, economic sanctions cannot be lifted until UNSCOM is satisfied Baghdad can no longer manufacture weapons of mass destruction. Iraq insists it has complied with all UN resolutions and that the US is using UNSCOM to keep sanctions on Iraq to bring about the downfall of President Hussein.
Britain, meanwhile, has ordered a Royal Navy aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean. HMS Invincible was ordered to cut short its visit to the West Indies and head for Gibraltar "as a common-sense measure", the British Defence Mi nister, Mr George Robertson, said yesterday.
The Arab League has said new UN sanctions "prolong the suffering of the Iraqi people which has already exceeded acceptable limits".