DATE=8/22/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ALBRIGHT/IRAQ/WEAPONS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-265757
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has met 
with the leader of a new United Nations team of 
weapons inspectors being assembled to return to Iraq.  
There have been no  weapons inspections teams in Iraq 
for more than two and a half years.  And correspondent 
Nick Simeone reports there is no sign Baghdad plans to 
let them return, raising questions about what the 
United States and other governments are prepared to do 
to get them back on the job.


TEXT:  Within a few weeks, a new team of weapons 
inspectors put together by retired Swedish diplomat 
Hans Blix should be ready to resume searching for 
Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction, which 
Baghdad agreed to give up at the end of the Gulf war. 

But the inspectors may never get there unless 
Washington and its allies on the U-N Security Council 
are again willing to resort to force to back up 
council resolutions.  And, at this stage, there's no 
sign the Clinton administration -- ahead of November's 
presidential election -- has the appetite for another 
military conflict with President Saddam Hussein, a 
leader who looks set to remain in power longer than 
the last two American Presidents who used force 
against him.

Baghdad has refused to allow weapons inspectors into 
the country since British and American jets bombed 
Iraq 20 months ago for refusing to cooperate with U-N 
teams.

In the meantime, Iraq has started testing short-range 
missiles, leading former chief U-N weapons inspector 
Richard Butler to suspect President Saddam has used 
the past two-and-a-half years to begin rebuilding his 
supply of banned chemical and biological weapons as 
well.

As Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was meeting 
with new chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix 
Tuesday, her spokesman Richard Boucher again warned 
military force remains an option if Baghdad refuses to 
comply with international law.

            /// BOUCHER ACT ///

      Nothing has changed in terms of use of force.  
      We've said quite clearly before, and I'll say it 
      again today.  If he reconstitutes his programs 
      for weapons of mass destruction, if he threatens 
      his neighbors, threatens U-S forces or moves 
      against the Kurds, we have a credible force in 
      the region and we're prepared to act at an 
      appropriate time and place.

            /// END ACT ///

But a senior U-S official told reporters not to expect 
any new international crisis if Iraq refuses to allow 
weapons inspectors back in.  Instead of military 
action he says, existing U-N sanctions would remain in 
place.   (SIGNED)

NEB/NJS/JP




22-Aug-2000 16:25 PM LOC (22-Aug-2000 2025 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.