Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, speaking after U.N. weapons inspectors said Baghdad was not doing enough to help their work, promised Iraq would cooperate more in future.
But Aziz also struck told Canada's CBC television that if U.S. troops invaded they would be met with "bullets, not flowers" and would suffer heavy casualties.
"They're asking Iraq to provide more cooperation. OK, let them say that. We are doing that," Aziz told CBC.
Aziz said there were only two areas of contention between Iraq and the inspectors -- the question of whether U-2 surveillance planes could fly over the country and the conditions under which Iraqi scientists could be interviewed.
"All other aspects of cooperation have been met and we promise to be more forthcoming in the future replying to all their needs in (a) way that will satisfy them," he said.
Aziz dismissed statements from Secretary of State Colin Powell and others claiming that Iraq had not declared all its stocks of anthrax, saying all the country's biological weaponry had been destroyed in 1991.
"When Powell speaks about those things he speaks about them as if they are real weapons in the hands of the Iraqis and he alleges they might be given to terrorists and the terrorists will use them against the American people...this is a manipulation of facts. This has no significance," he said.
"If the Americans try to invade Iraq they will be fought courageously and effectively and they will have a great number of casualties," said Aziz.
"The Americans are cheating themselves that they will be received with flowers. They will received with bullets, not flowers. We have distributed hundreds of thousands of pieces of arms and we are confident."
Asked whether this meant Iraq would try to launch an attack on the U.S. mainland, Aziz said: "No, it doesn't, because we don't have the means and we don't have the wish to make any mischief to the United States inside the United States."
But Aziz said he could not rule out an Iraqi strike on Kuwait if U.S. troops now massing there ever crossed north over the border into Iraq.
"Kuwait is a battlefield and American troops are in Kuwait and preparing themselves to attack Iraq. If there will be an attack from Kuwait I cannot say that we will not retaliate. We will of course retaliate against the American troops wherever they start their aggression on Iraq. This is legitimate," he said.
Aziz added Iraq did not have any missiles capable of being fired in excess of the 150 km permitted under U.N. resolutions.
"We are preparing ourselves...to face this aggression. But we still hope it will not happen because it's bad, for us of course, it's bad for the region and it's bad for the world. The better thing would be try to find a peaceful to this matter. The inspectors are in place in Iraq, they have a mandate, they should let them complete their mandate," said Aziz.
Asked whether he thought a war could be averted, he replied: "Maybe yes, maybe not." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
