THE United States
strengthened its claim that Iraq was pursuing a nuclear goal
last night, disclosing some of the evidence that it will put
before the United Nations next week.
White House officials said that aluminium tubes bought by
Baghdad were unusually strong and had been made to such
tight specifications that they must have been designed to
enrich uranium.
They also said that Iraq had paid a surprisingly high
price for the shipment, and went to extreme lengths to keep
it a secret.
The tubes are the focus of a dispute between the
International Atomic Energy Agency and the Bush
Administration. Iraq says that they are for short-range
rockets, and Mohamed Elbaradei, head of the agency, has
reported that he has seen no evidence to support claims that
they are for a centrifuge to enrich uranium.
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, will use
declassified UN Intelligence surrounding the purchase of the
tubes to try again to make the case that they were for use
in a nuclear programme. He is due to present a dossier of
what the United States says is proof of Iraq’s obstruction
and deceit to the UN Security Council next Wednesday.
Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said yesterday
that the tubes “far exceed any specifications required for
non-nuclear capabilities”. He said: “The preponderance
of evidence is that Iraq attempted to procure high-strength
aluminum tubes for uranium enrichment. We stand by that
statement.”
President Bush said yesterday that the United States
would continue to force Iraq to disarm even if President
Saddam Hussein goes into exile.
Mr Bush said that he would welcome any move by the Iraqi
leader and his “henchmen” to leave the country. But he
stopped short of saying that their disappearance would
necessarily avoid war.
He said: “No matter how Mr Saddam Hussein is dealt
with, the goal of disarming Iraq still stays the same,
regardless of who’s in charge of the Government.”
His remarks came before talks with Prince Saud al-
Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Minister, who is pressing
Washington to help to avoid war by finding a haven for
Saddam.
General Powell said on Wednesday that the United States
was ready to help Saddam into exile, possibly with the
guarantee of immunity from any future charges. Mr Bush did
not go as far as General Powell in public, but he sought to
reassure the Iraqi people, and the wider world, that if it
came to war, “shortly after our troops go, in will go food
and medicines and supplies”.
American policy towards Iraq has been to topple Saddam.
But by deciding last year to pursue him through the UN, the
White House shifted subtly to following a policy of
disarming Iraq.
Mr Bush was emphasising yesterday that the two goals have
become one, and that American troops may yet be needed to
disarm Iraq, depending on what kind of regime followed
Saddam.
General Powell is leading the search in Washington for
the diplomatic solution. The United States has been
contacting Iraqis to try to identify friendly faces and has
engaged in psychological operations, including radio
broadcasts. The ultimate goal is to oust Saddam without
force.
One possible route out of the conflict could be if Saddam
used Iraq’s ties with the former Soviet Union to find a
haven. Igor Ivanov, the Russian Foreign Minister, has denied
that Moscow was trying to persuade Saddam to resign, but he
said that it was keeping up contacts with Iraq.
