Weapons inspectors sting Iraqis
Meanwhile, in Israel, the armed forces test-fired an Arrow missile interceptor, preparing to defend the Jewish state against any attack by Iraq in the event of a US-led war in the Gulf.
Iraq fired 39 Scuds with conventional warheads at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War, causing one death and extensive damage.
While the experts scoured sites in the sixth week of a hunt for banned weaponry, US allies in Europe and the Middle East kept up the quest for a peaceful solution to head off war.
In Baghdad, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced plans to make a “pan-Arab and historic” speech to the Iraqi people at 11am (0800 GMT) today to mark Army Day.
Parliament Speaker Saadoun Hammadi said Iraq would fight with “all available means” and inflict heavy casualties on any US-British forces attacking his country.
Yesterday’s inspection, sprung on the compound housing Iraq’s own arms Monitoring Directorate, provoked howls from IMD chief General Hussam Mohammed Amin and the visiting Iraqi UN Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri.
Iraqi officials said the inspectors were focused on the Al Basil Company at the complex, but witnesses said UN inspectors closed the main gate and blocked the entrance to the complex.
For more than six hours, UN experts stopped people and cars inside the complex, filmed cars, and searched vehicles and personnel.
Meanwhile, US allies, fearing regional upheavals, are seeking ways to resolve the crisis and prevent a war to force Iraq to disarm. Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul was in Egypt on a Middle East tour to try to prevent a conflict, but a Turkish newspaper said dozens of Turkish tanks were already in northern Iraq.
