Germany denied Monday media reports that the European Union (EU) had changed its policy on Iraq, informally approving a short and restricted U.S. military attack against Iraq. "I can say for the German government there was no such negotiated consensus or informal agreement," said foreign ministry spokesman, Andreas Michaelis during a news briefing, according to IRNA.
He referred to an earlier report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily, saying that most of the fifteen EU countries had agreed “behind the scenes” of the recent EU Barcelona summit on a "targeted and restricted" U.S. military attack on Iraq.
According to the German daily, British Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed that the likely U.S. operation was part of secret discussions amongst the EU member states, IRNA added.
Meanwhile, Iraq may permit UN arms inspectors back into the country if the United Nations draws up a list of sites and a timetable for inspections, Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan said in comments published Monday.
"Iraq refuses the return of inspectors for as long as the sites for inspection and a precise timetable are not drawn up," he told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
Baghdad's refusal to submit to arms inspections since weapons monitors fled the country prior to punitive air strikes on Iraq in December 1998 has led Washington to threaten further military action to topple Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein.
Ramadan described the inspectors "spies" whose return "is designed to bring to light information on Iraq so that the next American strike is more painful than previous ones.
Iraq "is totally free from weapons of mass destruction," Ramadan said, suggesting an Arab inspection team could visit any site, including presidential palaces. (Albawaba.com)
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