RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin has rejected Anglo-American claims that President Saddam Hussein already possesses weapons of mass destruction. He told Britain's Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, that the best way to resolve the conflict of evidence was not war but the return of UN inspectors to Iraq.
With a tense Mr Blair alongside him at his dacha near Moscow, the Russian President took the unusual step of citing this week's sceptical CIA report on the Iraqi military threat to assert: "Fears are one thing, hard facts are another."
At a press conference, during a break in the talks, Mr Putin stressed his concerns about Iraq and his willingness to back fresh UN resolutions if necessary. Mr Blair took comfort from that.
However, his scepticism about the US-led drive for military action was palpable. After confirming his foreign ministry's assessment that the British government's Iraqi dossier "could be seen as a propagandistic step" to sway public opinion, he made it plain.
"Russia does not have in its possession any trustworthy data that supports the existence of nuclear weapons or any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and we have not received any such information from our partners as yet. This fact has also been supported by the information sent by the CIA to the US Congress."
Anxious to please his host and reinforce the international coalition, Mr Blair emphasised the importance of taking Russia's economic and diplomatic interests seriously "at the top table".
"There may be a difference of perspective about weapons of mass destruction; there is one certain way to find out and that is to let the inspectors back in to do their job. That is the key point on which we are both agreed," Mr Blair said.
Mr Putin appeared to be leaving himself room for manoeuvre. "We do have apprehensions that such weapons might exist in Iraq. That is why we want to see that the inspectors travel there."
Meanwhile, Iraq said yesterday it was ready to receive UN arms inspectors on October 19th, but ignored demands from chief UN inspector Mr Hans Blix on how to facilitate unrestricted access to suspected weapons sites.
Responding to an October 8th letter from Mr Blix and Mr Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iraq said it agreed with a press statement issued after the two UN officials met Baghdad's arms experts in Vienna last week and their subsequent briefing to the UN Security Council.
But Iraq's letter from Gen Amir al-Saadi, a presidential adviser who headed the Baghdad delegation in Vienna, mentioned none of the specifics Mr Blix had Mr ElBaradei put on paper summarising agreements from the Vienna meeting. These include conditions for interviewing Iraqi officials or scientists and U-2 spy flights.
Indicating he would like further meetings with Mr Blix and Mr ElBaradei, Gen al-Saadi said: "We affirm our readiness to co-operate in all respects" during the implementation phase. - (Guardian Service, Reuters)